Queensland councils must diversify to generate growth, according to research and the state’s Premier.

Premier Campbell Newman is outlining his 30-year vision for the state at the launch of the Queensland Plan this morning.

Newman will join Professor John Cole, from the University of Southern Queensland's Institute for Resilient Regions, at a Local Government Association of Queensland conference in Hervey Bay today.

Professor Cole said the education, tourism and services industries need to step up in regional areas.

“Innovation is the core of everything that we do and has to be if we are to be a competitive country with a decent standard of living, with opportunities for future generations,” Cole told the ABC.

“Too often regional communities tend to think of themselves just as being dependent on mining and farming.”

He says there are other ways to stimulate growth.

“We tend to think of ourselves when we think of regional Australia as being a farm or a mine and while both those sectors are vitally important, they are not the only opportunities,” he said.

“So we need more investment in the enablers of things like education, different types of governance, more efficiently targeted infrastructure to attract people in the first place.”

The details of the Queensland Plan are now available from the State Government, which has also put together the following video on its release;