The study was led by Romy Wasserman and Alan Gamlen of the Hugo Centre for Migration and Population Research and found most policies concentrated on attracting international immigrants rather than internal migrants to regional areas.

The study’s author’s found the lack of literature on policies to encourage the movement of people internally reflected a lack of policies to back decentralisation, but did not make any policy recommendations.

The study was commissioned by National Party-affiliated think tank, the Page Research Centre, and Victorian Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie said the study was a key link to understanding the reasons people were motivated to move from cities to regional areas.

Senator McKenzie cited decentralisation programs including the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority’s move from Canberra to Armidale, staff from the Murray Darling Basin Authority moving to Wodonga and most recently, the establishment of a new $4 billion commonwealth agency in Orange in the central west of NSW as examples of the party’s decentralisation push.

“This study highlights the need for informed data on decentralisation and an investigation on what regional centres seek in this area,” she said.

Senator McKenzie said the federal government recently announced a 10-member inquiry into decentralisation that would listen to the views of regional areas, keen on attracting government offices and agencies to their region.

“The Minister for Regional Development, Senator Fiona Nash has asked all cabinet ministers to identify agencies or sections of departments which they consider suitable for decentralisation,” she said.

“That information will then be considered by cabinet with agencies and business units deemed suitable for decentralisation included in next year’s Budget.”

Page Research Centre executive director, Kristian Jenkins said the research identified the four main policy levers to encourage settlement in regional areas.

“These are the lightest touch approach – market positive aspects of regions more effectively, visa-linked incentives to encourage immigrants to settle in regional areas, capital investments into regional areas and financial incentives for people to settle in regional areas, usually through tax incentives,” she said.

“This is the first stage in a proposed four-stage process which will culminate in the back bench policy committee identifying four to six regional capitals, along with a suite of policy proposals meant to encourage population to settle there.”

The Nationals will release the results as part of their decentralisation policy agenda at the next federal election.

Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters was contacted for comment.