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March 25, 2026 10:00:00

 

 

Each year, PIA delivers an innovative conference bringing together planners from across rural and regional Australia. The 2026 Rural, Regional & Remote (RRR) Conference will bring together professionals dedicated to shaping sustainable, thriving regional communities.

Australia’s rural, regional, and remote communities are navigating profound transformation, driven by climate impacts, demographic change, economic transition, and growing calls for community-led approaches to planning. The 2026 PIA Rural, Regional and Remote Conference provides a critical forum for planners and policy professionals to engage with these shifts, and to shape strategies that support the long-term sustainability, adaptability, and vitality of our regional places.

This year’s theme, Resilience, Regeneration, and Regional Innovation, challenges planning professionals to reimagine the future of regional Australia through the lens of systems thinking, place-based practice, and meaningful collaboration. How can we design resilient infrastructure and policy frameworks? What role does planning play in regenerating ecosystems, economies, and cultural connection to place? And how do we harness innovation - in governance, technology, and local leadership - to drive equitable and future-ready outcomes?

Delivered virtually to maximise national participation, the 2026 program will feature leading practice, applied research, and cross-sector partnerships that are actively reshaping planning in regional and remote contexts. Key topics will include climate-responsive planning, housing and infrastructure delivery, First Nations-led frameworks, regional economic transition, and digital innovation in planning processes. Join colleagues from across Australia to explore how the profession can lead, support, and influence the transformation of regional communities and deliver planning that is not only visionary, but grounded, practical, and inclusive.

With over 200 attendees joining us virtually each day in 2025, we look forward to delivering another fantastic event in 2026. #PIARuralRegional26!

 

 

 

Conference Theme

 

   Resilience 

This stream explores how regional and rural communities are preparing for and responding to disruption, whether environmental, economic, or social. It highlights planning practices that build capacity to recover, adapt and thrive amid challenges such as climate change, natural disasters, economic volatility, and demographic shifts. 

    Regeneration 

Regeneration goes beyond recovery, it's about revitalising communities, ecosystems and planning affordable housing and local economies with long-term vision. This stream focuses on renewal through place-based planning, cultural revitalisation, and land care, including the role of First Nations knowledge in healing Country. 

   Regional Innovation

Innovation in regional and remote areas isn't just about technology, it's about harnessing local ingenuity, leadership, and adaptability to solve complex challenges. This stream highlights how communities are using creative planning, new tools, and collaborative models to drive meaningful change and to tackle housing affordability and sustainability. From digital transformation and smart infrastructure to locally led economic strategies, we'll explore how innovation is being shaped by the regions, for the regions. 

 

Program at a Glance

The comprehensive program will feature keynote presentations and a range of concurrent sessions.

When: Wednesday 25th – Thursday 26th March 2026

Where: Online

Time: 11.00am - 4.00pm AEDT*
*Subject to change. Please take into account your time zone.

 

REGISTRATIONS

With flexible ticket options, explore what best suits your learning needs below.

Register Now

BECOME A SPONSOR

Interested in sponsoring the conference? Contact us at [email protected] 

Download prospectus

CONTACT US

Have any queries? Reach out any time.

Email the team

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Professor Nicole Gurran

Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Sydney, where she directs the Henry Halloran Urban & Regional Research Initiative.

Amanda Strugeon PIA (Assoc.)

Amanda is an urban planner, who received her Master of Urban and Regional Planning and joined SGS in 2015. Amanda has worked on a range of different projects in the ACT, NSW, Victoria, and elsewhere in Australia, for Commonwealth, State and local governments, as well as private clients, and in both regional and metropolitan contexts.

Yuan Deng

 Principal and Partner based in Sydney. Yuan has over 15 years’ experience in economic analysis, infrastructure planning, business case development, cost benefit analysis, land use planning/forecasting and digital tool development.

Kevin Smith

Kevin holds traditional connections to Ugar (Stephen Island) and Erub (Darnley Island) in the Torres Strait. He has worked in both professional and voluntary capacities in Indigenous Affairs at local, regional, and national levels for the past thirty-five years. 

 

 

ABOUT PIA

The Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) is the peak national body representing the urban and regional planning profession. Through education, communication and professional development, PIA is the pivotal organisation serving and guiding thousands of planning professionals in their role of creating better communities.


PIA’s mission is to lead effective planning for people and places to ultimately deliver good planning outcomes for our communities. We do this by advocating for better planning, developing high quality planners, and supporting the profession.

Visit PIA's website here

With Thanks To Our Conference Partners

Community Partners

       

Networking & Interaction Sponsors

                      

Conference Supporters 

                

Session Sponsor