A PROGRAM aimed to encourage people to live in regional NSW will get a shake-up.
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The NSW government will abolish the Regional Relocation Homebuyers Grant from September 30.
Additional funding would be delivered to continue its $10,000 Skilled Regional Relocation Incentive, which was tied to secure full-time employment over two years.
"The Regional Relocation Homebuyers Grant - which has no direct tie to employment - has not been as successful as the Skilled Regional Relocation Incentive in stimulating growth and employment in regional NSW and therefore it will not be continued," Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner said.
The Skilled Regional Relocation incentive had helped attract a broad range of professions to regional NSW, including medical professionals, architects, real estate agents, engineers, mining and farming workers, teachers and police officers, and three-quarters had been aged under 40, Mr Stoner said.
A spokesperson for the Deputy Premier's office said 38 households had taken up a relocation grant to move to the Dubbo local government area, seven of which took up the skilled relocation incentives introduced earlier this year.
Mr Stoner said the government was committed to its Decade of Decentralisation policy and was researching attitudes towards relocating to regional NSW to help inform its future decentralisation efforts.
"We have also made solid progress towards our 2021 target of 1,500 public sector positions to be relocated to regional NSW and are currently developing a regional economic development strategy to position our regions for long-term growth," he said.
"We also recognise the availability of world-class infrastructure and services is essential to attract more people, businesses and investment to the regions.
"That's why we are delivering more than $13 billion for regional infrastructure projects, with even more in the pipeline," he said.
Meanwhile the state opposition accused the government of "quietly scrapping" the grants scheme, suggesting cash intended to spur regional economies and decongest metropolitan areas had primarily been taken up by retirees.
"The Regional Relocation Grant program was ill-conceived and poorly implemented, and this scheme was not the right way to stimulate regional economies," Shadow Minister for Regional and Rural Affairs Mick Veitch said.
"People aren't just going to move for a lump-sum payment - they need employment opportunities and thriving local economies - and today the government is acknowledging its failure.
"The money allocated to this program would have been better spent maintaining existing employment and creating new opportunities."