ABSTRACT
With many jobs and businesses at risk, concern about the viability of rural towns is once again uppermost in the minds of the community. It was within this context that localism re-emerged as a policy strategy designed to enable local communities to address the socio-economic challenges which beset them. Indeed, analysis shows, in developing its policy approach to localism, Australian policymakers drew heavily on policy work undertaken in Europe. The design of Australian localism is highly consistent with other Australian Government policy strategy, which is concerned with the long-term sustainability of the economic base and productive systems. Significantly, localism differs from other forms of policy rationalisation in that government policy does not provide for structural adjustment at a community level. Central to the effective implementation of localism, and as demonstrated across this text, is the need for the nation to reconcile the past and present with deliberate policies for the kind of future it wants for rural and regional Australia.
