The regional (or differential) shift component (standardized by labour force size) derived from a shift share analysis of employment change over the decade 2001-2011 is used as a proxy measure of endogenous regional employment performance across Australia. The paper uses a new national geography of Australia derived from an analysis of commuting patterns to identify Functional Economic Regions (FERs) across the nation. The analysis reveals substantial spatial variations both between metropolitan regional and rural and regional Australia as well as within the nation’s major metropolitan regions with some surprising results in the pattern of positive and negative endogenous employment performance that is identifie from the shift share analysis.