The suburban shopping centre has become part of the urban landscape of Australia over the past 40 years. From their initial point of innovation in the capital cities, suburban centres diffused rapidly through the urban system. The majority of the 26 regional cities identified in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania have at least one centre, and in some the extent of suburbanisation has eclipsed the traditional central business area as the prime focus of retail activity. The advent of suburbanised shopping systems also highlights the partial demise of a locally-owned competitive capitalist sub-mode of activity and its replacement by a competitive oligopolistic capitalist sub-mode involving nationally-based firms. As with any change, the shifts in location, ownership and method of operation associated with the growth of suburbanised retailing systems have the capacity to bring about changes in the efficiency and equity of regional cities. Although it is not possible to prove conclusively that the efficiency of retail operations is improved by the growth of suburban centres, the advent of a system which encourages competition between retail firms appears to result in lower prices. Access to retail facilities is also potentially improved for a significant proportion of the populations of regional cities, although comparison shopping between centres might also generate increased cross-city flows of traffic. However, equity is not necessarily increased by these changes. Although the accessibility of lower income, elderly and less mobile households is improved, changes in the location of retailing favour younger, more affluent and mobile shoppers to a greater extent. And although the developers and owners of suburban shopping centres meet many of their own costs, there is evidence that they do not contribute to local government rate revenues to a level commensurate with their turnover and profits. On the other hand, the local authority is often faced with the demands of central business area property owners and retailers to revitalise their section of the city, bringing about an effective transfer of funds from the public to the private sector. The result may well be a net decrease in equity. Under pressure from local business interests, some city councils have chosen to restrict the pace of retail suburbanisation, whilst others have chosen to allow market forces to take their course.