REMOTE AREA TAX CONCESSION INQUIRY WELCOMED BY RDA ORANA

22 October 2019

Regional Development Australia (RDA) Orana this week made a submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into the effectiveness of the current Remote Area Tax Concessions and Payments.

"The remote area tax assistance has not fundamentally changed over a number of decades to reflect changes in demography, infrastructure and cost of living," RDA Orana Director of Regional Development Megan Dixon said.

Currently, much of the Orana region is not covered by the current zones, yet as an inland area our region has not been able to retain or attract population growth, due to issues like family drift, poor NAPLAN results and teacher shortages,"

"The Orana region is also facing the toughest drought in history, as well as a critical labour shortage and has struggled to attract workforce to relocate into the region."

"As an advocate and voice for this region, we applaud moves to ensure this system provides successful outcomes for communities and industry particularly in inland regional and rural NSW,"

RDA Orana have made 6 recommendations to the Productivity Commission based off our industry research which would improve the tax incentives and financial outcomes for people who live in inland regional, rural and remote Australia, which is one small aspect that can contribute to supporting economic growth of our region," Mrs Dixon said.

The Commission is due to report the findings in February 2020.

Download the full submission HERE