The Northern Rivers region is situated in the far north-easterly corner of NSW Australia, encompassing the Tweed Valley and coastal towns of Byron Bay and Ballina in the North, Yamba, Maclean and Grafton in the south and inland to the business and rural townships of Lismore, Casino and Kyogle. It has three major river systems that flow through the region – the Tweed River, the Richmond River and the Clarence River.

The Region’s economic beginnings lie in the timber trade. Over time, development has seen expansion into agriculture and tourism, which has led to growth in population and business services.

Business income in the Northern Rivers is concentrated in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, Construction, Financial and Insurance Services, Manufacturing and Retail Trade. Together, these sectors make up more than half of the Northern Rivers’ business income.

The Northern Rivers region is situated in the far north-easterly corner of NSW Australia, encompassing the Tweed Valley and coastal towns of Byron Bay and Ballina in the North, Yamba, Maclean and Grafton in the south and inland to the business and rural townships of Lismore, Casino and Kyogle. It has three major river systems that flow through the region – the Tweed River, the Richmond River and the Clarence River.

The Region’s economic beginnings lie in the timber trade. Over time, development has seen expansion into agriculture and tourism, which has led to growth in population and business services.

Business income in the Northern Rivers is concentrated in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, Construction, Financial and Insurance Services, Manufacturing and Retail Trade. Together, these sectors make up more than half of the Northern Rivers’ business income.

The Northern Rivers region is situated in the far north-easterly corner of NSW Australia, encompassing the Tweed Valley and coastal towns of Byron Bay and Ballina in the North, Yamba, Maclean and Grafton in the south and inland to the business and rural townships of Lismore, Casino and Kyogle. It has three major river systems that flow through the region – the Tweed River, the Richmond River and the Clarence River.

The Region’s economic beginnings lie in the timber trade. Over time, development has seen expansion into agriculture and tourism, which has led to growth in population and business services.

Business income in the Northern Rivers is concentrated in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, Construction, Financial and Insurance Services, Manufacturing and Retail Trade. Together, these sectors make up more than half of the Northern Rivers’ business income.

Northern Rivers Waste was established in 2000 and manages three waste facilities within the local government area, including the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre, the Nimbin Transfer Station and the Brewster Street Drop Off Centre.

Plastic waste had become a significant problem for the recycling industry due to China placing bans on the import of plastic waste for recycling. There is opportunity to create a local industry to make something from plastic waste instead of sending it to landfill now these recycling markets have closed. Such a project would offer a new industry and economic benefit to the local economy.

Investigation is underway to examine using the residual waste from the Commercial Waste Sorting Project to create a fuel source that can be used by industry. This would result in a significant reduction in waste to landfill.

NSW’s North Coast region is one of the most ecologically diverse areas of NSW. It contains world heritage rainforests, 9 major river catchments, and vast beaches. The North Coast’s environments support iconic towns and thriving tourism and agricultural industries.

Climate change is already affecting the North Coast, particularly through increased temperatures. Projections show temperatures are expected to keep rising, rainfall patterns will change, and fire weather will increase.

The Northern Rivers has the highest number of creative practitioners and businesses outside our capital cities with the greatest concentration of these located in Lismore. This rich and diverse cultural profile places Lismore at the heart of the region's creative industries.

Via online artist portfolios, Northern Rivers Creative combats geographical, socio-economic and cultural barriers inhibiting emerging and established creatives from accessing national and international audiences. The resource will provide artistic excellence to potential markets while offering viable, sustainable work opportunities and professional development for our growing creative community.

Northern Rivers Creative celebrates the region’s thriving creative diversity, featuring a range of categories including creative services, visual arts, design, Indigenous arts, literature, music, performance and screen.

As the world transitions to a digital economy, the Northern Rivers is well placed for growth in digital industries. Improving regional internet speeds are breaking down geographical barriers to regional work and lifestyle choices. Digital professionals now need only a fast internet connection to gain market share. This allows for lifestyle options that include beach, forest and rural living, which have long served as an attraction for film and media professionals.

New ‘gig-economy’ industry development is now being considered as a real opportunity. The region has already developed a national and international reputation in a variety of digital economy driven sectors. This reputation is behind a drive to seek investment into this industry to establish a regional hub for film, television and digital content production.

Potentially there could be a number of digital precincts in the region, providing fast broadband access and opportunities for collaboration.
Business Incubators and Facilitators – a range of business incubators and facilitators within the Region help generate prosperity and jobs by assisting existing businesses to overcome challenges and grow and while also aiding entrepreneurs in creating new businesses that put their innovative ideas into action.

The Northern Rivers region is situated in the far north-easterly corner of NSW Australia, encompassing the Tweed Valley and coastal towns of Byron Bay and Ballina in the North, Yamba, Maclean and Grafton in the south and inland to the business and rural townships of Lismore, Casino and Kyogle. It has three major river systems that flow through the region – the Tweed River, the Richmond River and the Clarence River.

The Region’s economic beginnings lie in the timber trade. Over time, development has seen expansion into agriculture and tourism, which has led to growth in population and business services.

Business income in the Northern Rivers is concentrated in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, Construction, Financial and Insurance Services, Manufacturing and Retail Trade. Together, these sectors make up more than half of the Northern Rivers’ business income.

Southern Cross University is an Australian public university, with campuses at Lismore and Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, and at Coolangatta, the most southern suburb of the Gold Coast in Queensland.

The university is a key attractor of activity to the Region and advocates its merits and potential to outsiders.

The Regenerative Agriculture Alliance (RAA) is a collaboration of Australia’s leading researchers and practitioners in regenerative agriculture, whose aim is to improve the holistic health and wellbeing of Australian landscapes, farmers and communities through regenerative agricultural research, education and practice.

Founded by Southern Cross University and led by Lorraine Gordon, Director of Strategic Projects, the Alliance includes leading researchers and agricultural practitioners in environmental science, soil and plant science, marine and forestry science worldwide.

The Northern Rivers is already home to Australia’s first community-owned renewable energy retailer, Australia’s first ever council operated and community funded solar farm, and the highest levels of rooftop solar in the country.

Our favourable climate, land fertility, existing industries and demographics offer opportunities to build on these successes and also explore new areas including bioenergy and waste to energy technology which have the potential to contribute to solving both waste management and energy generation challenges.

As a region we face a future of rising electricity prices, increased demand for water for domestic and agricultural use, and waste disposal challenges related to pressure on landfill and a changing recycling industry. Adopting innovative and sustainable approaches to energy, water and waste will play a vital role in allowing us to continue delivering essential services to regional residents.

In the Northern Rivers, agribusiness is a major driver of our local economy. The sub-tropic climate and rich soils of our region provide ideal conditions for a broad variety of agriculture.

Well established agricultural industries in the region include beef, sugar cane, bananas, vegetables and dairy. More recently blueberries and macadamias have been our fastest growing industries. Increasing demand from Asia and other international markets has seen rapid growth for these products. The industry has responded to this by investing in research and development for more resilient and higher yielding varieties.

There is significant agricultural activity across the Region. Kyogle and Casino are the primary hubs, focused on cattle, milk and poultry (inland) and cane growing around Evans Head.

The Ballina and Lismore regions have similar strengths in macadamia and sugar cane production, as well as distinctions (nurseries in Ballina; milk, cattle and poultry production in Lismore). While not as great as elsewhere, Byron Shire still produces significant macadamia, nursery, cattle and milk output. Cattle, macadamias, poultry and milk are the Northern Rivers’ leading commodities.
The Northern Rivers provides opportunities for agribusiness research collaboration with Southern Cross University. The Australian Government has a number of programs to support research and development.

New industries currently investing in new technologies in the region include a multi-million dollar medicinal cannabis plant that will potentially generate up to $1 billion in revenue and create 300 new jobs in the region. This facility will utilise state of the art Ag-technology, with ongoing research and development a key focus of the plant.

Food manufacturing in the Northern Rivers is a $400 million ‘value add’ industry with regional exports exceeding $1.1 billion. It is the only industry in the region where local expenditure exceeds regional imports.

The region benefits from the rural co-operatives business structure with co-operative businesses NORCO and Northern Co-operative Meat Company, making significant ground in establishing trade arrangements in Asia. The success was a key driver for the Australian Government funded pilot project, Farming Together being located in the region.

More recently, newcomers to the region have brought entrepreneurial innovation and sustainability to the local food manufacturing industry. Sustainability and community are key to our local boutique food and beverage manufacturing industry.

When it comes to health and wellbeing, the Northern Rivers is fortunate to have a number of hospitals and major health services within the region but gaps in specialist services, large distances and lack of public transport options impact residents’ ability to access the services they need.

The aim is for the region to be able to offer its residents a range of affordable, appropriate housing choices and access to health care, mental health care, aged care and other services that enhance wellbeing.

Is Australia’s housing crisis self-inflicted? If so, then we need a series of reforms to reverse it
The best long-term solution to the structural problems of the rental crisis is to build more public and/or affordable housing.

Make renting more Sustainable. Increase rent assistance or look at rental caps, similar to countries in Europe and some US states, long term tenancy agreements with incentives for all parties to the agreement.

Build to Rent
The Build to Rent property sector is growing in Australia – this new class of housing is focused on providing high quality purpose designed and built rental stock, creating an additional housing choice for Australian renters with greater security and service.

Build to Rent developments are typically owned by institutional investors for the long term and the owner could be the developer/ongoing building manager. The format provides tenants with the flexibility of renting with the security of home ownership.

Build-to-Rent developments are usually large-scale residential properties specifically designed, built and managed for long-term ownership and rental.

Social Housing
In the 40 years between 1981 and 2021 the percentage of all Australian households living in social housing (i.e. state owned and managed public housing or community managed housing) has ranged from 4.9 per cent in 1981 to 3.8 per cent in 2021. Such a drop in the proportion of social housing raises the question of has Australia achieved the balance right, and also just what is the right level of social housing for Australia?

In 2018 Statistics Canada said 628,700 Canadian households, more than one in ten renter households nationally (13.5% of 4,652,500), were living in social and affordable housing.
In New Zealand, as of 30 June 2021, there were 74,337 public housing households. This equates to 4.0% of households living in social housing.

In England (in 2018) 17% of households (3.9 million) lived in social housing, while the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development publishes that 1.2 million households live in public housing, which is 0.98 per cent of all housing.

Tourism is a major industry in the Northern Rivers.

The region boasts some of the best beaches, spectacular walking tracks, top whale watching, snorkelling and fishing, and world heritage Gondwana rain forests. The diversity of our natural environment continues to attract a broad spectrum of tourist.

The tourism industry supports over nine thousand jobs in the Northern Rivers across a range of sectors. Almost two thirds of accommodation and food industry employment is in tourism. The industry also creates employment and revenue in retail and education.

The Northern Rivers, when included with the NSW Mid North Coast is Australia’s third largest tourism region based on domestic overnight stays.