Three Regions. One Extraordinary Investment Environment.
8,752 square kilometres of productive, connected, liveable country.
The Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island sit within two hours of the Adelaide CBD and offer three completely distinct investment environments – from the food and wine production heartland of the Hills, to the coastal tourism and lifestyle economy of the Fleurieu, to the premium agribusiness and eco-tourism of Kangaroo Island.
What they share: consistent population growth, strong export performance, a planning system ranked first in the nation, and a community that welcomes investment that understands the region’s character.
Infrastructure
The foundations that make investment viable.
Energy The region benefits from South Australia’s position as a leader in renewable energy, with wind and solar farms across the Hills and Fleurieu providing increasingly reliable and competitively priced power for manufacturing, agribusiness and commercial operations.
Education The region has a growing tertiary education presence through its Study Hubs in Victor Harbor and Kingscote, keeping students learning locally and building a more qualified local workforce. Flinders University and UniSA maintain regional connections that support workforce development and research partnerships.
Airports and transport connections Kangaroo Island Airport provides scheduled air services connecting the island to Adelaide. Regional road infrastructure connects the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu to the Adelaide metropolitan area, with ongoing advocacy for freight route improvements including the South Coast Freight Route business case currently being progressed with state government.
Digital connectivity Kangaroo Island is now connected to the mainland via 15km of undersea fibre optic cable, delivering fast, reliable internet to businesses and residents across the island. Broadband connectivity across the Hills and Fleurieu continues to improve, supporting remote work, digital business operations and smart agriculture.
Current Projects and Recent Investment
What’s being built and where.
[INVESTMENT MAP – CURRENT PROJECTS]
Jordan note: Interactive map showing current private and public projects across the three sub-regions. Pin types: Current Private Projects, Current Public Projects. Popout template for each pin: project name, status, estimated value, brief description, contact or link. Modelled on the Sunshine Coast Major Projects Map. Label: “Projects Underway or Recent Investments.”
Content for map pins to be supplied by RDA team – draw from council economic development pipelines, state government project registers, and RDA’s own project knowledge. Priority inclusions: The Cliffs precinct, The Break surf park, Cape Jervis and Penneshaw Harbour upgrades, South Coast Freight Route, Study Hub developments, KI fibre optic.
Talent and Workforce
The people who will make your investment work.
Attracting and retaining skilled workers is one of the most consistent questions investors ask about regional locations. Here, the answer is stronger than most expect.
The region’s population has grown consistently for a decade, driven in part by working-age people choosing regional living for the quality of life it offers. Cost of living below metropolitan Adelaide. Housing more affordable and more available than the city. Safe communities. Quality healthcare. Outdoor recreation. Welcoming locals. Weather that makes people want to stay.
For businesses relocating operations or expanding into the region, the combination of lower operating costs and a workforce that values the lifestyle on offer creates a genuinely different employment proposition than metropolitan alternatives.
Quality of life factors that attract and retain workers:
Cost of living – consistently below Adelaide metropolitan levels, with more accessible housing for families and individuals.
Housing – a range of housing types and price points across the three sub-regions, including options for temporary accommodation for relocating staff.
Healthcare – hospitals and medical services in Mount Barker, Victor Harbor and Kingscote, with specialist services accessible in Adelaide.
Outdoor recreation – surf, cycling, hiking, wine regions, wildlife and coastline within minutes of most residential areas in the region.
Education – primary and secondary schooling across the region, with tertiary access through Study Hubs and the University of Adelaide’s regional connections.
Community – a region with a strong sense of local identity and a track record of welcoming businesses that engage genuinely with the communities they operate in.
For investors considering relocation of operations or key staff, the movetomore.com.au guides to the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kingscote provide useful context on living and working in specific parts of the region.
Local Government
Six councils. One point of contact.
One of the most consistent frustrations for investors considering regional locations is the prospect of dealing with multiple councils, each with their own priorities, processes and contacts. In this region, that complexity is manageable – because we manage it for you.
We have active relationships with all six councils – Adelaide Hills, Mount Barker, Alexandrina, Victor Harbor, Yankalilla and Kangaroo Island. We know their economic development plans, their investment priorities and the right people to talk to. Where a council has a formal investment prospectus or economic development contact, we can connect you directly.
Jordan note: Council tiles or cards here – one per council, linking to their economic development pages or investment strategies where available. Content to be confirmed with each council before publishing. Suggested fields per card: council name, key economic development focus areas, economic development contact name and link, website.
Nature and Lifestyle
The context that makes this region distinctive.
The Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island offer something increasingly rare in Australian investment markets: a region where the natural environment is itself an economic asset.
652 kilometres of ocean coastline. World-class wine regions. National parks and conservation areas. Kangaroo Island’s status as one of Australia’s premier nature-based tourism destinations. The Hills’ cool-climate food and wine identity. The Fleurieu’s combination of coastal lifestyle and productive agricultural land.
For tourism and hospitality investors, this is the product. For agribusiness investors, it is the provenance story. For businesses seeking to attract and retain talent, it is the quality of life proposition.
This region doesn’t ask investors to overlook its limitations in favour of its potential. The lifestyle is already here. The question is what you build on top of it.
Ready To Ready to See It For Yourself?
The best way to understand this region is to spend time in it. We run concierge tours for serious investors – structured around your interests, your timeline and the specific opportunities you want to explore.