Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Problems in attracting professionals to Australia's regions - a note

In Bush lawyers Legal Eagle reports on the problems involved in attracting young lawyers to practice in regional Australia. This problem is not unique to law, nor just to the professions. There are trades shortages as well.

I have been writing about this issue for a number of years. The effects are quite profound. It's not just the lost services that these people could provide, but the flow-on economic effects. If we could fill available jobs, then the income from those people would flow on to other parts of the regional communities, creating further new jobs.

The causes of this people problem are complex, involving structural and cultural issues. So far, responses to it have been spasmodic and ad-hoc. I doubt that this will change.

The problem is not unique to Australia. We can see similar problems in Canada or China. A key here lies in the nature of economic, social and political competition between major cities and their surrounding areas. To those that have shall be given.

Perhaps it's time to revisit and update some of my earlier analysis.

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