Victorian Council of Social Services chief executive officer Emma King will make the case for the “thousands of jobs” she says are likely to be created in the Bendigo region at today’s Regional Futures Summit at the Ulumbarra Theatre.

Ms King said an aging population and the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme would drive demand for a “brand new workforce”, with 200,000 jobs created across the state in the next decade-and-a-half – or 13,000 jobs per year.

She said people with disabilities were disproportionately more likely to live in rural and regional areas, meaning the new jobs would be concentrated in regional centres like Bendigo.

“We are on the cusp of a jobs explosion. It will be bigger than the mining boom, and with no end in sight,” she said.

“As a key Victorian regional centre, Bendigo is in the prime position to take advantage of this growth.”

Ms King said social support and care jobs represented the “jobs of the future” which would replace other declining industries.

“Bendigo has endured a number of job losses over recent years. Here is the next jobs boom.”

Regional Development Minister Jaala Pulford agreed that much of the future growth in jobs for the Bendigo region would be in the caring professions, but said the government was also focused on agriculture and tourism in its plans for the region.

“We know there’ll be demand for increased work in aged care, we’re also as a government working very hard to grow jobs in a number of industries in regional Victoria,” she said.

“But we have a particular focus on growing jobs in agriculture and in the tourism economy and that stems from some of the review work undertaken and facilitated through the regional statement last year.”