Rural Voices Matter In Local Decision-Making

Today communities across the country are heading to the polls to elect local representatives who will help shape the future of local services and places.

At the Rural Services Network, our focus remains clear: championing rural communities and ensuring rural services are properly recognised, understood, and supported at every level of decision-making.

Through our Delivering for All campaign and our recent Rural Realities research, we continue to highlight both the opportunities and the challenges facing rural areas today and the importance of policy that reflects the realities of rural life.

We believe rural communities need:

- Fair funding that recognises the additional costs of delivering services in rural areas
- Better use of data, evidence and insight to understand rural challenges properly
- Rural-aware policymaking that moves beyond a one-size-fits-all approach

A stronger commitment to fairness, inclusion and smarter policymaking can help ensure people living in rural, coastal and small-town communities have the same opportunities to thrive as those anywhere else.

As local leadership evolves following today’s elections, we look forward to continuing to work constructively with councils and decision-makers across the country in support of rural communities.