Job creation and good business conditions are not enough to ensure the availability of a skilled labour force in rural and regional areas, according to a new study.

The study found the average Brisbane resident would need a pay boost of more than $100,000 to consider moving to Western Queensland.

Changed income was less of a consideration for Blackwater and Rockhampton residents, who put more sted in the availability of jobs for family members and the provision of health and education services.

However, the strong message of the CQU-led study on relocation choices determining labour mobility in Queensland was that a diverse range of factors are in play when people consider moving, and that these factors change according to the type of community people are considering moving from.

Co-author Professor Paul Hyland, of Central Queensland University, said the extremely low unemployment rates in some rural and remote areas such as Emerald reflected regional stagnation and decline because of the inability or unwillingness of people to relocate there.

He also pointed out that regional areas that were in growth mode were being constricted by the lack of skilled labour.

The study explored factors influencing labour mobility and relocation choices to Western Queensland, the Bowen Basin, Queensland Coastal and South-East Queensland, by surveying residents of Rockhampton, Blackwater and Brisbane.

Copies of the study report are available via Paul Hyland on p.hyland@cqu.edu.au or via publicrelations@cqu.edu.au .