The Dubbo Region is a vibrant and rich area.
THE DUBBO REGION: A REGION ON THE RISE
By Sarah Christian, Lynn Rayner and Adam Poole
The Dubbo Region is more than a rich and vibrant area; it is a place where future and resilience are at the forefront of everything we do.
Home to 54,000 residents, Dubbo has long been known as the hub of the west because of its geographical location as a service centre for the Orana Region.
The region has a diverse industry base, a rich history and geographical uniqueness. It is rich with resources, with a highly productive agricultural sector providing food, wine, and fibre to global markets. From renewable energy, critical minerals and tourism opportunities, the possibilities are endless.
However, despite this reality the image of the Dubbo Region portrayed in state and national media is vastly out of date and skewed for their own interests.
With the acknowledgement of this, Dubbo Regional Council’ s Economic Development Team, Communication Services Team and local business and community groups, worked together to highlight the real truth of what it is like to live and work in the Dubbo Region.
While acknowledging the hardships our community has faced, we wanted to proudly tell the stories beyond them, celebrating the hidden gems that continue to grow and thrive, shaping the vibrant regional community we love to call home.
The Region on the Rise campaign takes an in-depth look at the incredible projects, businesses, and opportunities that are already making waves in the Dubbo Region. From groundbreaking initiatives to local enterprises quietly shaping the future, we used the campaign to highlight the region’ s diverse potential.
MAKING THE CAMPAIGN HAPPEN What started as a simple idea to showcase our hidden gems morphed into a statewide campaign that highlighted the reasons why investors, employees and employers should look at the Dubbo Region.
With 26,650 local jobs, an unemployment rate of just 3.6 per cent, and 5,593 local businesses, Dubbo is booming, however it continues to struggle with its past identity. The value of dramatic news means it is usually only ever looked upon by state and national media when something untoward happens. In the past few years, Mother
Nature made sure Dubbo was in the headlines, however it never showed the full story of the region.
The Region on the Rise campaign was undertaken to promote our regional strengths, build local pride among residents and businesses and attract investors and talent to the region in the long term.
Some staff involved in the project were familiar with the region’ s achievements. However, many of these were still considered hidden gems because the full stories hadn’ t been widely shared.
Because these stories had developed over time, they were known in fragments. To truly reflect Dubbo’ s identity, they needed to be told in full, from beginning to end, so their impact could be properly understood.
We picked a variety of individuals and businesses in the Dubbo region that we felt encompassed our whole story, from AMSL Aero who use the Bodangora Airstrip just outside of Wellington for their Vertical Take-off and Landing aircraft testing, to an Indigenous-owned, First Nations skincare business that honours culture and
VOL 18 NO 3 2025 18 www. edaustralia. com. au