2005 ED Awards - Innovation

Tweed and Northern Rivers Regional Economic Model

The Tweed and Northern Rivers Economic Model is an initiative of the Tweed Economic Development Corporation Ltd, for the Northern Rivers Region of NSW.

It is an economic modeling tool which provides computer generated planning tools for the identification, measurement and evaluation of socio economic development initiatives that best support sustainable development of the Tweed and Northern Rivers.

The participating councils, economic development agencies, and the NSW State Government can all use the model to better understand the structure of the local and regional economies, undertake more informed strategic planning and policy making, evaluate the benefits and impacts of specific projects and policies, and monitor and measure changes in the structure of the economy over time.

Since the project's launch in July 2005, the TEDC has received numerous queries from other local government authorities, consultants, academics, private companies and industry organizations that are interested in purchasing information and analysis from the model for a variety of applications.

The NSW Government has allocated funding to investigate the extension of the model to the rest of the NSW coastal region and then to the remainder of NSW. Other local government authorities have also expressed an interest in developing models for use in their regions.