Greater Capital Region Strategy Stage 1: Economic Opportunities Scanning Project

The Greater Capital Region is one of the fastest growing regions in Australia but its ability to capitalise on the region's competitive advantages has been constrained by a number of factors,not least of which are the impacts of the ACT-NSW border and different regulatory regimes.

This report is the outcome of the Stage 1 scan of current strategic planning documents. It draws upon a wide range of recent reports compiled by the ACT and NSW Governments as well as the RDA Committees, SEROC and other key stakeholders. It also draws upon the outcomes of a targeted consultation program involving workshops with these bodies and a number of other important regional stakeholders such as the Canberra Airport Group and the Canberra Business Council.

The document scan findings were matched with outcomes from the consultations, and the two information sources yielded a wide array of constraints and opportunities for economic growth in the Region, some of which related specifically to cross-border issues, while many articulated the need for action and/or investment to address other deficiencies and bottlenecks in the regional economy.