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A bid to make Bendigo one of Australia’s first Smart Cities could see wealth spread between disadvantaged residents and hold the community to account over education outcomes, a local government spokesperson has said.
Bendigo’s submission to become a regional inland pilot for the federal government’s Smart Cities plan, which won approval at last Wednesday’s council meeting, identified “pockets of entrenched disadvantage and growing inequality” as a challenge confronting the municipality.
City of Greater Bendigo strategy manager Trevor Budge said lifting the living standards of those inside the city would be an integral part of the project.
“There's no point us just focusing on building the wealth of the city if that wealth isn't shared,” he said.
“Cities that are smart will use the data they have to better develop solutions that will work for everybody.”
Bendigo’s Smart Cities application also labelled its education levels a concern, and Mr Budge said lifting year 12 graduate rates and the number of people with tertiary qualifications were both ways to improve the experience of people living in disadvantage.
“Education isn't a panacea for everything, but higher education levels give you greater opportunities for employment and securing a better paid job, and greater opportunities for growing your personal welfare,” he said.
He said the government would be unlikely to choose Bendigo as a Smart City if it could not demonstrate the education outcomes of its young people were improving.
“That's a big ask, and it doesn't fall on the city council itself, it falls on the whole community, its businesses and its education providers.”
Bendigo Senior Secondary College principal Dale Pearce agreed education was the way to break entrenched disadvantage and an important accompaniment to the Smart Cities proposal.
“It's not enough to say we're going to be a Smart City,” he said. “We need to look at how we lift the outcomes for and aspirations of the disadvantaged.”