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Six Conversations, Six National Challenges for Regional Australia – Insights and Ideas

Over two days in July, we ran six conversations with regional Australia, one for each of the 2026 National Regional Challenges. People joined from chambers of commerce, councils, schools, neighbourhood centres, community radio, farms and not-for-profits, from Stanthorpe and the Granite Belt out to Goondiwindi, Tenterfield, the Clarence, Chinchilla, Singleton, Tasmania and South Australia. Different […]

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Regions in Transition: Ready Communities Impact Report and Action Plan 2026

Our 2026 annual impact report, “Regions in Transition”, is now live! Our second Ready Communities Impact Report and Action Plan covers three years of place-based work across Kempsey, Grafton, and now Stanthorpe. With an emphasis on ‘investment readiness’, the report is written for funders, policymakers, and practitioners working in regional Australia. Insights include: Read more

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Ready Communities group meet

What is investment readiness and why does it matter?

People who live in Regional communities aren’t usually challenged to identify the problems that exist in their community. However, identifying solutions, particularly solutions that the majority can agree to comes with more challenges. This is just one of the reasons we speak with regional communities about investment readiness. To get the story straight, and investible

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Stanthorpe QLD

Ready Communities program kicks off in Stanthorpe

Stanthorpe has been selected to take part in the Ready Communities program, a nationally recognised place-based approach that supports regional towns to shape their own future, on their own terms. Over the next two years, Ready Communities will work alongside local people, organisations, businesses and leaders to build the conditions that help good ideas turn

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What readiness really means for regional communities

In regional and rural communities, good ideas are rarely in short supply.What is often missing are the conditions that allow those ideas to land, grow and endure. Readiness is about those conditions. In the Ready Communities context, readiness refers to the collective state of a community to shape, attract and sustain positive change. It is

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2025 White Paper and impact report launched

On Thursday 14 August Ready Communities Co-Founders, Kerry Grace and Dr. Chad Renando launched the first Ready Communities White Paper and Impact Report, A Case for Regional Readiness. In regional Australia, change is constant. Communities navigate shifting industries, population dynamics, natural disasters, and opportunities for growth. But true, lasting impact doesn’t come from quick fixes

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How Ready Communities Has Evolved: Lessons Beyond the Pilot

When we first launched Ready Communities in the Macleay Valley, we were testing a bold idea: could a community-driven, flexible, deeply relational approach to social and economic development truly work in regional Australia? Eighteen months later, it’s safe to say the answer is yes—but not in the way we first imagined. Our work in Kempsey

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