UNISA MOUNT GAMBIER PUBLIC LECTURE PROF ANDREW BEER

Professor Andrew Beer is the Executive Dean of UniSA Business, a former Chair of the UK’s Regional Studies Association and a Fellow of the UK’s Academy of Social Science. Over the past 30 years he has worked on issues relating to the drivers of economic success for Australia’s regions, and has worked with the Regional Australia Institute, Australian Government agencies such as the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regions, Communications and the Arts, as well as the OECD and the European Union on a range of projects focussed on how best to deliver growth. Some of the most disadvantaged Australians live in our non-metropolitan regions. This is a problem that has been evident for more than 50 years, but regional Australia continues to be confronted by lower incomes, higher levels of unemployment in many places, lower life expectancy, reduced access to services, poorer health outcomes across as suite of measures and lower levels of educational attainment. In some places this disadvantage has become entrenched across generations. Professor Beer’s presentation considers how local communities – such as Mount Gambier – can take the first steps towards shaping a more productive policy environment. Effectively ‘leading from below’ to generate the policies and opportunities that best meet their needs and offer the most productive pathways to success.