Regions of Western Australia

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The regions of Western Australia are distinct geographic areas of Western Australia, defined by the State Government for purposes of economic development administration. Together they comprise the whole of mainland Western Australia, with the exception of the Perth metropolitan area which is not contained in a region. Although originally defined for administrative purposes, they are a useful and convenient way of referring to regional areas of Western Australia, and so receive much wider usage.

The regions were established by the Regional Development Commissions Act 1993, which defined their extents and established Regional Development Commissions to promote their economic development. In defining the regions, an attempt was made to capture distinct socio-economic communities. For example, the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia has an economy based heavily on mining, whereas the Wheatbelt region is economically dependent on agriculture.

Contents 1 Current regions 2 Commonwealth regional separations 3 Argircultural regions 4 Other regionalisations 5 See also 6 External links 7 Further reading

[edit] Current regions

The regions of Western Australia are:

• Gascoyne
• Goldfields-Esperance
• Great Southern
• Kimberley
• Mid West
• Peel
• Pilbara
• South West
• Wheatbelt

[edit] Commonwealth regional separations

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and other instrumentalities also divide the state up into regions as well. In the Bom delinaeation the Kimberley, Pilbara and Goldfields regions are reduced by the location of the BOM category of 'The Interior', invoking similarity to the nebulous Outback category found for inland Australia.

[edit] Argircultural regions

Due to the specific areas delineated by climate and ecology - the 'Agricultural Regions' (and more commonly as the 'Wheatbelt') - 'Forest Regions', and 'Wine growing Regions' are confined to the south west. While the 'Pastoral Region' refers to the climate and ecological zone that lies acrross a series of regions and is as variegated as any in the state.

[edit] Other regionalisations

Names of the regions in popular usage also may differ with the 'official' boundaries. In some cases tourism promotion bodies and local councils will appropriate either names or group together areas into a created marketable name for a group of locations that might not specifically relate to any established name of place or legally constituted locality - Sunset Coast is a very good example of this issue in Western Australia.

The Kimberley is one of the few regions in the state that has consistent usage and most generally accepted confines.

Common usage in government report titles and documents can identify the regions loosely like the labels 'Northern Regions', 'Southern Regions', and the 'South West'.

[edit] See also

• List of regions in Australia

[edit] External links

• The Regional Development Commissions Act 1993 (as amended)

[edit] Further reading

• Regions Western Australia. Perth, W.A. : Dept. of Commerce and Trade. Issue 1 (Mar./June 1998)-issue 11 (Feb. 2002)
• Regional futures : challenges and opportunities for Western Australia's regions : a discussion paper prepared by the Regional Development Council and the Department of Commerce and Trade. Perth, W.A. : The Council, Rev. June 1996.
• Western Australia : a statistical snapshot of the regions prepared by the Department of Commerce and Trade for the Regional Development Council. Perth: The Deparment., 1995.
• Western Australia tomorrow : population projections for the statistical divisions, planning regions and local government areas of Western Australia. Perth, W.A. : Western Australian Planning Commission, 2000. Population report (Western Australian Planning Commission) ; no. 4. ISBN 0730992225

Regions of Western Australia
Gascoyne | Goldfields-Esperance | Great Southern | Kimberley | Mid West | Peel | Pilbara | South West | Wheatbelt