Economic development remains a critical concern for local governments globally. While there is much effort in understanding what stakeholder groups such as industry, government and universities believe will benefit a region, one stakeholder group regularly neglected in such policy development is the youth (18-25 years old). Despite representing a significant proportion of the population and the certainty that they will live in the future created today, they are rarely consulted. Traditionally, economic developers prioritise the needs of traditionally more vocal stakeholder groups such as business owners, retirees, and disadvantaged groups and tend to overlook the perspectives of youth. This study aimed to ascertain youth perceptions of what makes a regional community an attractive place to live and work, based on its regional reputation and employment opportunities, as these aspects are critical for future regional economic development. This study used a focus group as a pilot study, followed by an online survey research design.

The online survey collected responses from 487 youth respondents under 25 years of age. The majority of the respondents were young women (74%), with 31.2% working full-time and 27.8% working part-time. The majority of respondents (40%) had completed high school and 35.5% completed their university studies. Responses were collected from all Australian states. The majority of respondents were from NSW (32.7%), followed by Queensland (23.3%) and Victoria (21.6%).