Main Streets of Australia Week

With more than two million small businesses in Australia, and many of these on our main streets, they deliver a huge amount for the community. However, in the shadow of online shopping and shopping centres, this can often go unnoticed and undervalued.

Mainstreet Australia is launching a national campaign, creating an annual week aimed at showcasing and celebrating the crucial role that main streets and town centres provide to our communities in connecting them, providing local facilities accessible to all and to the Australian economy.

And this is not all about encouraging ‘shopping local’ or highlighting the need for recovery post COVID, or following adverse weather. Support for our main streets and town centres is for life and for very good reason.

“Often local stores and main streets are taken for granted, until they are no longer there. Losing them can have an enormous ripple effect that is not realised until they are gone. Empty premises attract vandalism and unsociable behaviour, employment options are reduced for those that need local jobs and schools and community groups, who rely on businesses to promote their events and provide sponsorship, are left struggling,” says Stavros Zikou MD of Marketa, marketer for Trader Associations.

It’s for this reason that, between 16 and 22 May, across Australia, our main streets and town centres, along with the hundreds and thousands of businesses within, are joining forces to showcase the diverse, unique and valuable contribution these precincts make to our Aussie community.

Our mains streets are a vital economic, cultural and social hub and every main street in Australia needs support to thrive. It is important to ensure our main streets remain a vibrant and attractive retail option for locals and visitors alike and this is why Mainstreet Australia, a not-for-profit organisation that works tirelessly to support our main street businesses, is calling on councils, chambers of commerce, retail and trade associations, businesses, and the public, to join in and collectively raise awareness of the power of supporting our town centres.

“It’s the incidental experiences that we encounter along the way as we stroll our main streets that make the difference. A chat with your favourite café owner, interacting with a piece of art or a relaxing on a bench seat whilst the street hums around you not only heightens connection but increases the economic viability of the centre for the residents, workers and business owners who call it home,” says City of Vincent Mayor, Emma Cole.

Our mains streets:
• Provide a huge number of jobs to those that rely on local or flexible work
• Create local spending
• Are home to a large number of small and family run businesses who employ around 41% of Australia’s business workforce and contribute around 32% of Australia’s total Gross Domestic Product
• Support local causes and charities, as well as sporting groups and schools
• Provide a place for the elderly or vulnerable to find their fit in the community
• Build connection and provide safe spaces
• Allow a huge number of families to stay financially afloat.

Stephen Sully, urban planner, passionate supporter of main streets and committee member of Mainstreet Australia says;

“Without businesses a main street ceases to exist, irrespective of the quality of its streetscape, the design of its public realm, the colour of the paving, the amount of parking or the creativity of its brand.”

“Main streets can be fragile and something we must continually monitor. Losing the essence of our main streets can have a huge impact on our communities and often those from marginalised groups, or the elderly who rely on local amenities,”, says David Doy, Manager of Place Planning, Town of Victoria Park, WA.