Abstract
This book is based on the third Australian Country Towns conference held in Bendigo late in 2010 and is a timely reminder of the diversity of Australia's country towns and the unique challenges each faces. this book considers the sustainability of these places from a number of perspectives: leadership; decentralisation policy; mobility; lifestyle choices; ageing; housing; agriculture and forestry; retail; youth; health; and finally art and culture. The papers in this book reveals the multidimensional nature of sustainability as applied to Australia's country towns. The book emphasises the important role regional associations and local government play in ensuring the sustainability of our country towns.