EDA can play a connector role to ensure the growth potential of all towns, cities and regions is met. With innovative, targeted place-based economic development programs delivered in a coordinated way, EDA can ensure these places meet their productivity potential and build Australia’ s economic complexity and sustainability.
All tiers of government, community, business and philanthropy need to work together to ensure communities have agency in economic development and transition. This is the key role of economic developers.
Economic Developers are acutely aware of the impact of onerous red tape and other regulations which represent a barrier to productivity at all levels of the economy. With 65 %+ of our membership working at a local government level, EDA is the ideal agency to provide intelligence regarding these key challenges and opportunities being experienced on the ground across all jurisdictions. This nimble intelligence gathering will allow the Government to accelerate policy development to reduce red tape nationally.
An example of EDA’ s positive contribution to state-based policy development is our
recent contribution to the introduction of The Community Improvement Districts Bill 2025. EDA has promoted Business Improvement Districts( BIDs) also known as Community Improvement Districts( CIDs) as a useful way to foster partnership between local government and the community, led by local businesses, to support and grow local economies, town centres and main streets.
EDA is an ideal vehicle for providing coordinated feedback into programs delivered by state jurisdictions. A good example is the State-based Office of Small Business Commissioners’ Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Friendly Programs. Through its national economic development networks, EDA has visibility of the efficacy or otherwise of these programs and can play a key role in ensuring reduced duplication and better program coordination in a neutral capacity. This will support the achievement of the Federal Government’ s objective to creating a more dynamic and resilient economy and reduce red tape.
IMPROVING LOCAL RESILIENCE Since the 2019 bushfire crisis, Economic Development Australia( EDA) has played a vital role in helping cities and regions across the country recover from a series of economic shocks, including COVID-19 and multiple flood events. EDA’ s efforts have directly strengthened local economic resilience through targeted programs, tools, and resources.
In response to these crises, EDA acted swiftly to support the economic development professionals leading recovery efforts on the ground. This included a dedicated webinar series featuring national and international disaster recovery experts sharing practical advice, real-world experience, and case studies.
EDA also launched a centralised Economic Recovery Knowledge Hub to serve as a comprehensive resource library for the sector. In addition, EDA provides tailored economic recovery and resilience workshops and training for economic development professionals, elected officials, and civic leaders. To further support recovery efforts, EDA developed and distributed free toolkits to assist economic developers navigating the challenges of the bushfires, COVID-19 pandemic, and floods. With the Government’ s support, EDA will accelerate development of these resilience building resources and programs to support the productivity agenda.
VOL 18 NO 2 2025 10 www. edaustralia. com. au