Abstract
Regional development policy is highly problematic in and for Australia. Unlike the European situation, where regions (countries) have come together to establish an explicit regional policy framework with coherent (if highly controversial) interventions to reduce regional disparities, Australia struggles along with stop-start political commitment, a complex mix of often competing policies and strategies, frequent conflict over responsibilities between different levels of government, and an inadequate conception of what the "regional problem" is, beyond the vague notion of a city-country divide. There is a poor connect between research (theory), policy and practice, and indeed a poor understanding of the core questions of regional development - How do we define success? Who is responsible for regional development? What drives regional growth and decline? And, What works in terms of strategies and programs? Answering these prior questions and creating appropriate vehicles for communication between researchers, policy makers and practitioners would provide an important initial step towards setting regional policy to rights in Australia