Sustainability: Top regions revealed
2005-06 State of the Regions report
7 November 2005
For many Australian regions, the ability to maintain and grow populations is a critical factor affecting local economies and service provision. But what are the key components of population sustainability and which regions are performing well?
The 2005-06 State of the Regions report, released today (Monday 7 November), has assessed Australian regions against ten specific measures to determine their population sustainability. Key issues include the ageing of the population, consistency of population growth, fertility rates, the dominance of regional centres, family migration and demographic stress.
Prepared for ALGA by National Economics and sponsored by Jardine Lloyd Thompson, State of the Regions Report provides a comprehensive stock-take of the economic and social well-being of Australia's 64 regions and their prospects for economic development and employment growth.
Report co-author, Dr Craig Shepherd, said many regions with significant and sustained population growth were unworried about population sustainability.
"However, there are a larger number of other regions for which the components of population change, births, deaths and migration are pointing to a much less secure population size which in turn places significant pressure on local economies and service provision," he said.
| Region | State | Score Aust. | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunshine Coast | QLD | 62 | 1 |
| Peel-South West | WA | 60 | 2 |
| Pilbara-Kimberly | WA | 58 | 3 |
| Perth Outer North | WA | 50 | 4 |
| Melbourne Inner | VIC | 50 | 5 |
| Gold Coast | QLD | 33 | 6 |
| Sydney Inner West | NSW | 32 | 7 |
| Brisbane North | QLD | 32 | 8 |
| NSW Central Coast | NSW | 31 | 9 |
| Sydney Outer South West | NSW | 30 | 10 |
"In particular, demographic stress is a truly powerful measure of population sustainability. It is a measure based on the level of out-migration and growth rates in the 15-55 year cohort.
"Regions that have experienced high levels of out-migration yet have been able to grow their population of 15 to 55 year olds are in an excellent position to grow or at least sustain their population into the future.
"When all 10 indicators are combined, a population sustainability score is achieved. The majority of local government areas that do well are in metropolitan regions, where employment prospects for young people are stronger, amenities and service provision are available and future prospects are on a while, better than average.
"These regions have an enviable mix of in-migration, relatively low levels of ageing, growth in fertility rates, higher than average levels of employment and strong locality dominance.
"At the other end of the spectrum, the bottom 12 regions or those with scores less than 50 are the regions most likely to struggle to retain their current populations. These regions typically have low in-migration, low fertility, an older than average population and fewer dominant localities," Dr Shepherd said.
| Region | State | Score Aust. | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunshine Coast | QLD | 74.8 | 1 |
| Gold Coast | QLD | 73.1 | 2 |
| Peel-South West | WA | 70.8 | 3 |
| Melbourne Inner | VIC | 70.8 | 4 |
| Perth Outer North | WA | 70.8 | 5 |
| Brisbane North | QLD | 70.3 | 6 |
| Pilbara-Kimberly | WA | 69.9 | 7 |
| Global Sydney | NSW | 69.9 | 8 |
| Brisbane City | QLD | 69.8 | 9 |
| NSW Central Coast | NSW | 69.6 | 10 |
Population sustainability rankings and scores for all 64 Australian regions can be found in this year's report.
The State of the Regions report can be accessed by journalists online via the ALGA website www.alga.asn.au. Please call Rohan Greenland on 0412 859 434 for a username and password. Population sustainability information and statistics can be found in Chapter 8 pp149-176.
- Contact:
- Dr Craig Shepherd, co-author State of the Regions report 2005-06: 0411 486 671
- Cr Paul Bell AM, ALGA President - 0418 791 596
- Rohan Greenland, ALGA Public Affairs - 0412 85 9434 / 02 6122 9434
- Peter Hylands, National Economics - 0419 343 921
