The remit of Regional Development Australia (RDA) Orana is narrowing to generating jobs and growing businesses as directed by the federal government.
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Early in the new year RDA Orana will advertise for a director of regional development who will focus on its new task.
Dubbo-based RDA Orana chairman John Walkom expects that its current executive officer Megan Dixon will apply for the newly-created role.
RDA Orana is part of a network of 55 RDA committees undergoing change as the result of a review into “their effectiveness”.
Mid-year the government announced funding of the RDA network to the end of 2020 along with changes to its direction, operations and appointment of leaders.
The 55 committees have been told to turn their attention to finding and negotiating with private companies, not-for-profit organisations and governments in order to boost jobs and investment in their regions. Their work will be monitored and a “more rigorous, merit-based appointments process” introduced for committee members including chairs.
A long-serving chairman, Mr Walkom has reapplied for the position. “We’ve been told chair appointments are happening at the end of March,” he said.
Mr Walkom was speaking after RDA Orana released a statement advising of a “new era” in 2018 with a director of regional development steering the organisation under a new charter.
He said RDA Orana would have a “much clearer direction”. “The remit has been quite broad but where we sit now is really around job creation and business growth,” he said.
“Before we were a bit around social issues and to be honest there are enough out there looking after that. Economic developers have always said that the way you lift the social standing in your community is to create jobs and that creates personal wealth.”
The statement recorded the important milestones for RDA Orana in 2017 including the launch of dual freight studies on transport feasibility, completion of the Skills Outlook Survey focused on local workforce and training challenges, case studies into gaps in telecommunications services and provision of the skills migration program for new Australians.
