The ‘Regional Strengths and Infrastructure Gaps’ report from Infrastructure Australia outlines the growth in services and infrastructure needed to support record regional migration.
Infrastructure Australia said the regionalisation trend had continued, with the first quarter of 2021 seeing the largest internal migration on record.
The report said 53,000 new dwellings would be required to support population growth in the next two decades in the region and greater Shepparton would be one of the areas of high demand.
The need for more affordable and social housing is underlined in the report, with one in five low-income households in the Goulburn Valley sub-region experiencing financial stress from mortgage or rent.
The report said insufficient social housing had put increasing pressure on existing social housing services in the region.
Some 485 households were provided with crisis accommodation between March and September 2020, during the COVID-19 period, in one sub-region alone.
The report said the increasing cost of renting would increasingly exclude low-income earners from the private housing market, placing greater strain on an under-supplied public housing system.
Hume RDA data shows that median rent in the region has risen 52 per cent in the past decade, accelerating since 2018.
Demand for regional housing, triggered by COVID-19, has also exacerbated shortages in the rental market across parts of the region.
Shepparton, as the pre-eminent centre for population growth within the Goulburn Valley sub-region, is facing growing demand for better public transport services.
While the main rail service is being upgraded, the report said upgraded local networks and interconnectivity between regional centres would alleviate pressure on the road networks, increase opportunity for tourism and improve mobility for residents.
The report said while the COVID-19 pandemic caused an increased reliance on digital connectivity, network coverage and broadband speed reliability remained crucial to supporting future economic and population growth.
“This is the first time a report of this magnitude has been conducted solely on regional Australia that localises each area’s strengths and opportunities,” Infrastructure Australia chair Col Murray said.
“It provides a foundation of data, knowledge and community perceptions to support future infrastructure planning, decision-making and network governance across the country.”
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