The Thank God It's Friday voucher program would allow for the uptake of four $25 vouchers for use towards dining and entertainment - only for use in the Sydney CBD on Fridays.

The new program would also allow all four vouchers to be used on one event to the value of $100 unlike the current Dine and Discover.

The Dine and Discover program was set to expire at the end of June, but that date was revised in early June so the scheme would last until July 31.

The revision came after it was revealed by the state government that millions of vouchers had not yet been used. According to data from Service NSW on June 22, customers in the Bega Valley had only used around 39 per cent of the total Dine and Discover vouchers that had been distributed.

The new Friday program was announced on June 18 by the Treasurer's office, with the vouchers expected to go live just before summer. The announcement has come at a time when there are currently 12 reported cases in Sydney's Northern and Eastern Suburbs, as well as in the Illawarra.

"This will be a targeted program designed to get more people back into the heart of the greatest city on earth and on the way through spend a little extra on retail and services businesses," said Treasurer Dominic Perrottet.

A spokesperson from the office said that since regional and rural Australia have been benefitting from the increase in tourism, the city required extra help as it's been the greatest hit by the pandemic due to the lack of international travel.

They also indicated that although the finer details of the new program have not yet been ironed out, it is looking as though these vouchers would be open to anyone in the state on a first-in best-dressed basis.

Meaning that those in regional and rural areas could access the vouchers and use them as a reason to visit the city.

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Minister for Digital and Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello said the program, "will be inclusive, with a non-digital option available to customers without a smartphone".

However despite being labelled as "inclusive" it really seems to fall short of the 35 per cent of Australians who live outside of the Greater Sydney area.

Although the program will likely be rolled out to people all over NSW, those having to travel to the CBD of Sydney from rural and regional areas would likely encounter many hours of travel and additional costs on accommodation.

A greater discrepancy of wages between those already living in the city and regional and rural areas must also be taken into account and although as the Treasurer's office pointed out, rural and regional Australia is being boosted by travel, those who get to enjoy the benefits and entertainment value of the regions are more likely to be those rushing from the cities for a weekend escape.

It is greatly appreciated by the regions that people come and spend money on regional and rural tourism over the weekends; it still doesn't address the underlying truth that those living in these areas continue to be affected by huge wage inequality and already have less disposable income.

Based on the 2019 ABS employment figures, only 1.3 per cent of income earners in the Bega Valley are in the top bracket, whereas in Sydney 9.7 per cent of income earners are in the top bracket - 5.9 percentage points higher than the average.

The most advantaged LGAs with the top 20 per cent of income earners tend to be clustered around capital cities and select coastal areas, whereas most disadvantaged LGAs tend to be in regional and rural areas.

Bega falls into the middle to lower end, but it is important to note there are clusters of high wage earners on the coast - many of whom have moved from the city looking for a sea-change.

This alone however doesn't negate that in the 2016 census, Sydney's Ku-ring-gai ranked as the wealthiest suburb with the average wage being $118,053 per year.

On the other hand the median weekly personal income for a person in the Bega State Electoral Division was $523 - just $27,196 a year.

All of the top 10 most advantaged LGAs and suburbs in NSW fall within Sydney and the 10 most disadvantaged suburbs are located across regional and rural NSW.

With all this in mind the case could be made that despite a struggling city, rural and regional Australians continue to be left behind in planning and services.

The scheme only highlights the growing gap that is perpetually reinforced by a state government dropping the ball on basic services for regional NSW, such as hospitals or access to affordable housing.

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Although regional tourism is on the increase and the federal government is incentivising with business and innovation, it's important that rural and regional Australia feel their leaders are working towards creating a more equal system.

This system would better cater for the growing wage discrepancies, access to services, and the lasting impacts of the pandemic on Australian people and local businesses around the entire state, not just the city which keeps the state relatively wealthy.

This latest move may be only a simple $100 voucher scheme, but keeping access equal to them would be a start to make rural and regional people feel they are included and valued members of the state.