Our climate is changing primarily because increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are trapping heat, warming the air and oceans.

Around 80% of the region’s population of 236,000 live in Townsville, the largest city in northern Australia. The Port of Townsville services the region’s mining industry and fishing fleets. Charters Towers is the main regional centre.

On the coast, extreme inundation and erosion events could become more frequent, resulting in high clean-up and asset maintenance costs.

Flooding, due to more intense extreme storms, could affect water, sewerage, storm water, transport and communications infrastructure. Flash flooding and wind damage will exacerbate these impacts closer to the coast. The cost of insurance may increase as a result. Inland, the impact of hotter days and extreme heat events will also affect infrastructure.

Townsville possesses a significant creative industry sector and is regarded as the cultural hub of North Queensland.

The region has a growing cultural identity, embracing arts, crafts, design, fashion, music, performing arts and the multi-cultural identity of Townsville.

The key components of Townsville’s creative industries are:
• Townsville Civic Theatre – Offering performances in dance, music, opera, comedy and drama from local, featuring Australian and international artists
• Perc Tucker Regional Galley – Townsville’s premier regional art gallery
• Riverway Arts Centre – Townsville’s newest function centre entwining arts, leisure and the natural environment
• The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Centre – Providing key insight into traditional and contemporary life and culture.

Townsville’s has a number of creative art schools and production companies, including:
• James Cook University – School of Creative Arts
• Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts
• Townsville Academy of Performing Arts
• Townsville Music and Performing Arts Space
• La Luna Youth Arts.

Townsville is the largest centre in the Northern Region, whilst Mount Isa is the largest centre in the North West Region. Mining and agricultural sectors employ 5.1% and 4.1% of the workforce respectively and are the largest export sectors.

Health care and social assistance, pubic administration and safety, and retail trade are the three largest sectors by employment.

North Queensland has long been a base for various major industries, including mineral processing, sugar mills, beef processing and concrete batching plants.
Industries considered for the region include sea, air, rail and road-dependent industrial uses such as manufacturing (chemicals and metals production), minerals processing, food processing, intermodal freight and logistics and bulk storage.

The region is home to key defence bases including Lavarack Barracks (one of Australia’s largest), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Townsville (co-located with Townsville Airport) and the Ross Island Barracks. The Port of Townsville also supports naval operations for both Australia and foreign vessels.

Townsville is the base for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef studies, TropWATER, CSIRO and ReefHQ aquarium.

The North Queensland region spans from Ingham in the North to the Whitsundays in the south, and as far west as Mount Isa. It incorporates the regional centres of Townsville, Mackay, the shire of Burdekin, as well as smaller rural towns including Charters Towers, Bowen, and Normanton.

A full range of study areas are offered in North Queensland including automotive, beauty and hairdressing, building and construction, business, child care, community services, electrotechnology and utilities, engineering, general education and training, horticulture, hospitality and cookery, information technology, nursing and health, tourism, resources and infrastructure, and visual arts.

James Cook University offers a number of avenues for engagement between business and industry. Whether you need research capacity or professional development opportunities, or want to host an intern, JCU can assist.

Agricultural land in Townsville North Queensland occupies 85% of the region. Sugarcane is the region’s major agricultural commodity, producing $479 million of gross value followed by beef cattle ($295 million). Other significant regional agricultural commodities include various horticulture including melons, sweet corn, beans, mangoes, and capsicum.

North Queensland’s agricultural sector (including key sub-sectors of broad-acre, livestock, horticulture and aquaculture) represents significant growth opportunities for the region.
strong reputation for quality and safety of the region’s produce is driving demand from high growth international markets including China, the Middle East, South Asia and ASEAN.

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.

Established in 2019, Smart Precinct NQ is a not-for-profit organisation that provides a springboard for collaboration, learning and growth through a range of start-up accelerators and incubator programs, business growth advisory services, investment support and events.

We bring together a range of stakeholders to provide a positive impact to North Queensland Founders, Entrepreneurs, Investors, Industry and the wider Business Community.

North Queensland is absolutely central to the industry’s future, because of the wealth of critical minerals in the North-West Minerals Province, including copper, vanadium and cobalt that are essential for advanced and renewable technologies

North Queensland will be home to a whole new industry, mining, processing and manufacturing vanadium initially, and other critical minerals in the future.

The opportunities in North Queensland include mining and processing the minerals for vanadium, zinc bromine and iron flow batteries, cobalt and nickel used in lithium-ion batteries, high-purity alumina for LEDs, batteries and semiconductors, rare earth elements used in electronics and silicon for solar panels and semiconductors.

An Australian-first critical minerals demonstration facility which will be expanded to include more than just vanadium will be built in Townsville to unlock Queensland’s next mining and manufacturing boom.

Townsville North Queensland, is one of Australia’s prime strategic Defence regions. It has significant Australian Defence Force representation, an extensive industry network, and an established ready workforce with a demonstrated capacity for growth and innovation.

There are significant opportunities for industry to partner with JCU and co-located research institutions including the CSIRO and Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM) to lead innovative research programs in fields of tropical health, human performance, marine science and biosecurity.

The Townsville Manufacturing Hub, located on the TAFE Queensland campus, provides a place for local manufacturing businesses to receive support to transition to advanced manufacturing through world-leading technologies. With a focus on
advanced manufacturing (primarily metal production), the hub will boost regional innovation, manufacturing productivity, and upskill the regional workforce.

By 2030, Townsville North Queensland will be a preferred location for allied forces training, an Army home base of choice and the Australian Defence Force Forward Mounting Base.

The location offers significant development opportunities. These are:
• Defence Simulation Training
• Integrated Soldier Systems Centre of Excellence
• Defence Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
• Maritime Replenishment and Logistics
• Joint Amphibious Force Capability
• Aviation Super Base for Army

Townsville is a coastal city in north Queensland, Australia. The Strand esplanade, with its pier and water park, is popular. The Reef HQ Aquarium has marine life and coral from the Great Barrier Reef, plus a sea turtle hospital. Southeast of the city, the Billabong Sanctuary wildlife park is home to koalas, wombats and crocodiles. Offshore, Magnetic Island has coral reefs and a national park full of wildlife.

Environmental Services protects Townsville's natural environments and spearheads Council's sustainability initiatives. Explore the hidden worlds of sustainability, Water, Energy, Biodiversity, Land Management and Recycling.

We live in a beautiful part of the world that is surrounded by amazing nature and environmental conservation areas including the Great Barrier Reef world heritage area, Pinnacles National Park, Magnetic Island, the Wet Tropics world heritage area including Paluma Range National Park, and Bowling Green Bay RAMSAR Wetland of international Importance.

The work that organisations, not-for-profits, businesses and governments put in to protecting, restoring, and enhancing these spaces is crucial for ensuring they flourish and that we continue to attract ecotourism to the region.

Council recognises climate change as a global issue and that we are in a state of climate emergency requiring urgent and sustained effort. We also recognise that responding to climate change is a shared responsibility. We need to work together to focus our efforts and change our behaviours to increase the resilience of our region.

We need to prepare for the likely impacts of a changing climate, whilst also reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. Governments have an important role in showing leadership and supporting community action.

The Sunshine Coast Council’s corporate vision for a region that is healthy, smart and creative, acknowledges that creativity broadens our perspective, helps us to explore ideas to find solutions and to build resilience.

The aspirational vision defines creative regions as those regions while not exclusively driven by the arts, are those that acknowledge the arts as integral to creative achievement - alongside science, research, education, design and invention.

In fact, a vibrant and diverse arts and cultural ecology is an important contribution to the liveliness and vitality of the places we call home. Arts and culture contribute directly to the “sense of place” which attracts both residents and investors. These attributes determine the attractiveness of a city or region as a place in which to work, live, invest and raise a family.

The Refinery is a creative incubator designed to transform ideas into sustainable businesses. A testing ground and training platform, The Refinery connects the dots between creativity and business, with access to mentors and a network of inspiring industry leaders sharing real time knowledge.

Participants get mentoring from leading industry professionals, provide support to each other via a digital platform and gain access to online learning modules which cover the fundamentals of turning an idea into impact.

The Sunshine Coast’s economy continues to evolve into a modern, ‘smart’ economy based on sound growth across numerous high valued and knowledge-based sectors including professional business services, innovative manufacturing and numerous high-tech start-ups.

The strength of the regional economy is based in its diversity and strength across a number of key sectors including healthcare, education, finance and professional business services.

The Sunshine Coast is home to industry disruptors like Youi, Huddle, Gourmet Garden, Country Chef, Ambrose Building, Auto & General, Get Wines Direct and Office HQ.
Businesses tap into an inspired workforce of more than 83,000 students across University of Sunshine Coast, two TAFE campuses and more than 150 registered training organisations

Businesses tap into an inspired workforce of more than 83,000 students across University of Sunshine Coast, two TAFE campuses and more than 150 registered training organisations.

The University of the Sunshine Coast is a public university based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. After opening with 524 students in 1996 as the Sunshine Coast University College, it was later renamed the University of the Sunshine Coast in 1999.

The Sunshine Coast is home to industry disruptors like Youi, Huddle, Gourmet Garden, Country Chef, Ambrose Building, Auto & General, Get Wines Direct and Office HQ.

Agribusiness – focusing on niche food and beverage product and value-adding production – which has a strong foundation in the region and is a key part of the economic future of the hinterland communities. This sector will expand in response to burgeoning national and global demand a clean and safe food supply.

The Sunshine Coast University Hospital will provide leading-edge research facilities and professional services and provide an attractant for allied professional services to co-locate in the region. The facilities and services offered via SCUH and the broader Oceanside Kawana Health Precinct will enable the region to respond to both domestic and global demand for health and well-being services, particularly in the area of chronic disease prevention.

The specialist research capabilities of SCUH will further assist the region in establishing an international reputation and alliances and deliver careers and services not presently available.

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.

Located on the Sunshine Coast, the Innovation Centre assists innovative and ambitious businesses at every stage across all industries. Typically, Innovation Centre members are looking to either launch a new venture or scale an existing venture in the mid to short term. Members join the Innovation Centre to access programs, training, mentoring and tailored advice aligned with their strategic needs.

The Sunshine Coast has all of the key ingredients required to support an innovative and thriving tech industry. These include game-changing infrastructure, a supportive business and investor community, local government committed to innovation, talent and education pathways. This, coupled with the region’s enviable lifestyle, is seeing the Sunshine Coast emerge as a future tech hub and offers myriad opportunities for the tech industry as well as tech-enabled business.

The newly formed Sunshine Coast Tech Industry Alliance (SCTechIA) will focus on priorities that build industry capacity; drive local tech jobs; encourage member collaboration to compete nationally and internationally, and provide a united voice for the tech industry in the region.