Far West Regional Economic Development Strategy

The Far West Regional Economic Development Strategy (REDS) was developed to identify economic development opportunities that capitalise on the Far West’s endowments and industry specialisations.

The Far West Functional Economic Region is composed of the Broken Hill and Central Darling Local Government Areas (LGAs) and the Unincorporated Far West Region.

The City of Broken Hill is a focal point of the economy, while the small urban centres of Wilcannia, Silverton, Packsaddle, Tibooburra and Menindee play important roles in the Region. The Strategy aims to leverage the Region’s endowments, such as:

 - Exploited and untapped mineral resources like lead, zinc, silver, iron and cobalt ore deposits 

- Vast agricultural land supporting traditional wool and beef enterprises as well as emerging goat and kangaroo meat enterprises

- The landscapes and abundance of space to support festivals, events and camping experiences

- A wealth of cultural heritage underpinned by Aboriginal and European history.

This strategy recognises the imperative to face the region’s challenges and does this by supporting current strengths, as well as exploring opportunities to give the region the best chance of achieving long-term, permanent, sustainability and vibrancy.

In 2023, the NSW Government developed updates for each of the 38 existing REDS in regional NSW. The 2023 REDS update for Far West NSW can be found at the link below. The 2023 REDS update builds on the strong foundation created by the 2018 REDS and includes for each FER: updated data and economic analysis, reflecting new data releases and analysis of the impact of key events that have occurred since 2018; discussion of the key opportunities and challenges facing regional NSW and individual communities; and updated strategies and enabling actions to guide and support economic development priorities for regional NSW.