Future-Proofing the WA Economy

Future-Proofing the WA Economy is the fourth report in the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre’s Focus on Industry report series. The report recommends the implementation of a ‘smart specialisation’ approach to regional diversification, to ensure that new development opportunities build on existing regional capabilities and capitalise on local conditions and networks.

Of course, this doesn’t mean taking our ‘foot off the gas’ in the parts of the economy that are going well. A fundamental element of smart specialisation is to support those industries that the regions are leading in. But the smart specialisation policy is useful to encourage diversification into new industries that build on WA’s existing advantages.

This report contributes an important new evidence base to inform the State’s diversification strategy, based on a data-driven approach to identify current industry strengths and emerging opportunities in each of WA’s ten regions.

The report puts forward a series of recommendations to support the State’s diversification strategies. In doing so, our hope is that more economic development opportunities in Western Australia will be seized rather than lost.