Boost to get skilled workers to the bush

The NSW government has abolished the Regional Relocation Homebuyers Grant which has proved ineffective at getting younger, working singles and families into regional NSW.

"Many of the successful applicants were retirees who would not be filling skills shortages and the $7000 grant was really too small to be a decisive incentive to relocate," Local Government NSW (LGNSW) president Councillor Keith Rhoades said.

Instead of the grant, the government will continue with the Skilled Regional Relocation Incentive which it says is succeeding in getting skilled workers to move out of Sydney.

The legislation was passed through NSW Parliament last week and will see the skilled incentive continue until March 2015.

Both schemes reached capacity and closed on September 30.

Cr Rhoades said the skilled incentive helped attract skilled workers who would either "help existing local industries survive and prosper or who would establish and grow their own businesses".

He said while LGNSW doesn't have any quantitative data on the success of the skilled incentive there was anecdotal evidence it was having some success.

"Skilled workers are critical for the sustainability and growth of rural and regional communities.

"Many rural and regional areas suffer from acute skills shortages."

A spokesman for the Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional Infrastructure and Services Troy Grant said the homebuyers grant had not been as successful as the skilled incentive in stimulating growth and employment in regional NSW.

Under the homebuyers grant the Hunter Valley, Mid North Coast, the Illawarra, Central West and Southern Highlands rated as the most popular districts where people moved to buy a home.

It saw 4155 grants paid since its introduction in 2011.

The Skilled Regional Relocation Incentive has seen more than 300 grants paid since January this year with another 252 applications still pending.

The top five districts the incentive recipients moved to were Mid North Coast with 62, Central West, 59; New England/North West, 30; Orana, 28, and Illawarra, 28.

The Office of State Revenue reports since its introduction in January until the end of July, 75 per cent of the skilled incentive recipients were aged under 40, 92pc under 50 years of age and 32pc under 30 years of age.

A broad range of professionals have been involved including doctors, architects, real estate agents, engineers, mining and farm workers, chiropractors, opto- metrists, teachers and police officers.

Minister for Small Business John Ba-rilaro said three quarters of the Skilled Regional Relocation Incentive recipients had been under 40 years of age.

"These people have taken up jobs or set up their own businesses in regional NSW, making a direct contribution to the local economy," Mr Barilaro said.

He said it was estimated the continuation of the incentive would help deliver 85 successful job seekers or business operators and their families to regional NSW per month through to the end of March next year.

The skilled incentive would continue to be offered in two equal instalments of $5000 to eligible applicants who relocate from metropolitan to regional areas in NSW.

The first instalment would continue to be paid no sooner than three months after the relocation and the second paid at least a year after the first payment.