New Move will be launched today as an economic development initiative to attract people from Australia's capital cities to relocate and invest in Newcastle, with the council saying independent economic modelling estimated the program could create up to 75 new jobs and $25 million in local economic output.

Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said New Move was an Australian first, adapted from the highly successful US Tulsa Remote initiative, which would help attract new skills and talent to Newcastle through the initial incentive of a financial grant, whilst raising long-term awareness of the city's diverse economic opportunities.

"Newcastle is an economic hub driven by innovation and skills and we want to share this fact with all of Australia," Cr Nelmes said.

"The global labour market is changing. COVID-19 has shown that people can work from anywhere in the world. Increasingly young professionals are choosing smaller, but well-connected cities, like Newcastle due to their superior lifestyle.

"We know people can be apprehensive about moving cities.

"Newcastle is home to world-class education, healthcare, and aerospace hubs, and an innovation ecosystem that supports start-ups. There's no shortage of opportunities for talented and skilled people."

The New Move program is funded by City of Newcastle within its existing economic development budget and was supported by a unanimous resolution of council in December 2020.

More information is available on the New Move website.

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