On Tuesday, 12 August 2019 the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, the Hon David Coleman MP, asked the Joint Standing Committee on Migration to inquire into and report on migration in regional Australia.

On 25 March 2020, the Committee suspended the inquiry. This decision was made in light of COVID-19 and the economic impacts of the public health situation potentially changing the needs of regional communities. The future course of this inquiry will be reconsidered later in 2020, and further information will appear on the website in due course. The Committee sincerely thanks everyone who has contributed to the inquiry so far, and will keep them informed of future decisions.

As the course of the public health situation progressed, it became clear that the circumstances of regional communities would be changed for more than just the short term, the Committee took the decision to cease the inquiry’s program of hearings and move directly to a report. Nonetheless, the Committee observed that some aspects of the evidence it had received would be beneficial to put on the public record as these matters could be taken into account as the economy emerges in a post-COVID-19 world. The report was tabled in June 2020.