This report brings together three separate research projects to examine the capacity of Australia’s smaller cities to assist in managing population growth, including international and national migration. It also provides advice on which policy instruments and programs are most likely to redirect population movements to these places.

This research examines key drivers of migration flows and settlement patterns across Australia, and identifies key barriers to and opportunities for greater population decentralisation.

This project examines the viability of continuing work from home (WfH) practices in a post-pandemic world, and identifies ways in which both industry and government can support and encourage appropriate adoption.

This report examines the impacts of economic specialisation and diversification on Australia’s mid-sized towns. For the purposes of this project, mid-sized towns include all settlements with a population of 5,000 to 50,000 persons.

This project assesses the economic impacts of a more decentralized population growth strategy that prioritizes greater regional growth in and around each of these four metropolitan regions. As part of this assessment, we analyse the high-level relationship between a city’s population size and its performance across different economic, and social and quality of life indicators.