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Economic development establishes a national body

Economic development as a profession is set to experience a much higher profile nationally following a recent landmark decision. The Economic Development Association of Victoria (EDAV) announced at its April 2006 AGM that it will become a national organisation within the next three months.

As well as Local Government Economic Development officers, membership also includes people working for State and Federal Government bodies, Area Consultative Committees, tertiary institutions, consultants and industry representatives.

The vote to move from a state to a national organisation was unanimous, with members seeing the move as positive and building on the success of the inaugural National Economic Development Awards held in Melbourne last year.

EDAV President, David Keenan, described the move as well considered, logical and exciting.

"We've had significant support from groups in Queensland and New South Wales to go down this path and we now have the right framework in place to proceed," David Keenan said. "The economic development field and practitioners need a recognised peak body to help with professional development and policy creation."

He said the EDAV Victoria board had undertaken extensive preparations into establishing the new organisation and had consulted with many parties.

The new organisation, Economic Development Australia, will commence in 2006/07, with final arrangement to be fine tuned by the EDAV board in coming weeks.

"Once the new structure is in place, it will be important to get interested individuals from each State involved in board positions," David Keenan said. "This will mean more coordination, communication and working together."

Economic Development Australia will build on work happening nationally including raising awareness of the needs and opportunities for economic development, achieving the highest standards of performance by members in pursuit of programmed professional development, communicating government policies to the community, promoting community and practitioner involvement in policy development, and encouraging cooperation between regional and community organisations.

Further information visit www.economicdevelopment.com.au or telephone David Keenan (03) 5320 5676 or 0407 205 676.

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