A YEAR after the Federal Government’s Regional Australia Summit, the nation’s most disadvantaged regions are still waiting for help, the Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission (ACSWC) said last week.
The ACSWC, in its latest discussion paper called “Regional Australia in a Global Economy: Towards a Responsible Framework for Regional Development”, focuses on “the nation’s glaring regional disparities and calls on the Federal Government to adopt a coherent framework for regional development”.
ACSWC spokesman Toby O’Connor said: “Economic reforms implemented by successive Federal Governments and international economic integration, or globalisation, have had diverse impacts at regional level in Australia.
“Despite the benefits that may have accrued to the economy as a whole, globalisation has had destructive consequences for many of the nation’s regions, while others have experienced tremendous prosperity.”
Mr O’Connor said that of particular concern was the worsening social disadvantage in many regions.
