FIGURE 2 . THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT IN REGIONALISATION
current share of regional South Australia ’ s State Government jobs would increase slightly , from 13 % to 15 % of the total ( of regional South Australia ). This means there would be an initial uplift of 492 State Government jobs in the Far North Region over and above the existing 180 jobs .
© SC Lennon & Associates
QUANTIFYING THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS : ECONOMIC MODELLING ASSUMPTIONS When considering the potential impacts of government regionalisation , it is important to understand that employment opportunities are not necessarily restricted to those within a relocated government department or agency . Rather , employment opportunities may arise from any increased spending in the regional economy by public sector employees and their families , and from any associated private investment that follows a public sector move to a non-metropolitan area .
This proposed shift to the regions represents an uplift of 21 % of State Government jobs over and above current numbers that would be located in regional South Australia . This means regional South Australia ’ s share of State Government jobs ( at the time of writing ) would increase from 1,399 jobs to 4,479 jobs , a direct increase of over 3,000 jobs . It is assumed that the Far North Region ’ s
To complement this ambitious State Government jobs growth target for regional South Australia , it is also assumed that regional South Australia ’ s share of Federal Government jobs in South Australia would increase from 9 % to 12 % of the total , or from 545 jobs to 951 jobs . The Far North Region already has a healthy share of regional SA ’ s Federal Government jobs . It is conservatively assumed then , that the Far North ’ s current share of regional SA ’ s Federal Government jobs would increase slightly , from 27 % to 30 % of the total , resulting in an initial uplift of 137 Federal Government jobs in the Far North over and above the 148 jobs currently located in the region .
The combined uplift in State and Federal Government jobs as a result of regionalisation under this scenario , would result in a direct increase of 629 public sector jobs in the Far North Region ( that is , an additional 492 State Government jobs and 137 Federal Government jobs ).
Complementing government investments in regionalisation , corporate regionalisation ( or decentralisation ) offers opportunities for investment in regional Australia that benefits those regions , not only in terms of direct employment , but also in terms of indirect employment and development as a result of those investments .
The economic analysis undertaken on behalf of RDA Far North is driven by a number of assumptions regarding the quantum of government decentralisation to regional South Australia and the Far North Region specifically , using a target set by the Local Government Association of South Australia , that 30 % of the State Government public service be based outside Greater Adelaide . This is used as a starting point for the analysis and assumes that 30 % of State Government jobs could be located in regional South Australia .
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