Australia needs a better approach to collection and delivery of regional indicators to monitor impacts, inform planning, facilitate development and manage risk.

That is according to CQU Professor Bob Miles, who was addressing the Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia (SEGRA) conference last week (September 5-7).

Professor Miles, Executive Director of the Institute for Sustainable Regional Development, said regions faced increasing pressure from globalised markets and trade agreements, technology changes, demographic changes, consumer trends and environmental imperatives.

He said Australia needed a more integrated approach to regional planning and development but there was a lack of consistent regional data and limited regional monitoring.

“There’s a lack of resources, difficulty in accessing data, multiple data sets and conflicting data sets,” he said.

Professor Miles listed desirable indicators in the areas of environment, social measures and economic measures, and the desirable conditions for their collection.

He listed emerging measures such as water-use efficiency, biodiversity loss and ecosystem fragmentation, liveability, energy efficiency, social cohesion, equity and ethics, and demographic trends (eg. aging – loss of youth).

The Professor called for inclusion of generic indicators and region-specific indicators (which should reflect each region’s progress towards ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’ industries).