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.id community monthly newsletter
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February 2012
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Greetings!
I was recently told that there are 3 certainties in life - death, taxes and newsletters. Give me newsletters out of those three anytime!
Last week I attended the LGMA (SA) annual conference in Adelaide - called "Talkin' 'Bout Our Generation". It focused on the challenges facing Local Government - addressing the skills shortage; retaining and managing quality staff; and of course managing the provision of Council services in a changing demographic landscape. And it certainly is changing.
I had the privilege of making a presentation on the emerging population trends that .id's forecasters have identified. Our modelling is revealing some interesting paradigm shifts in Australia's demographic makeup.
Our forecasts suggest that while there is an understandable interest in the ageing process of Australia's population, this needs to be broadened to an interest in what is an apparent minor baby boom. The large number of younger immigrants, and an unexpected increase in fertility rates has resulted in a spike in birth rates.
The data also reveals a broken relationship between population growth and the supply of housing and as a result we are being 'packed to the rafters'. Average household size is increasing in many suburbs where it had been declining for decades and we are seeing interesting changes in living arrangements.
You'll see detailed blogs on these topics in the coming weeks.
Of course, we're most interested in how these trends and changes are impacting local communities. What does this mean for your local area service provision, asset management and housing policy? Our local government forecasts provide this information and you can access them in our demographic resource centre.
Stay curious!
Ivan
Ivan |
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Focus on Local Government
Migration in the last five years - focus on Queensland
The next article in our migration series looks at Queensland, the sunshine state.
In recent years, Queensland has had very large population growth, particularly in the south-east. My article "Who is moving to the Gold Coast?" looks at some of the population trends here.
But Queensland is also an overseas migrant destination.
In our final article in this series, we analyse the data available on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website, to look at likely changes in the makeup of the population which we will see when the Census results are out next year. Local area information is available, which is very important for planning service delivery.
read more..
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Census Countdown
It's not just about the Census - what other population data is released by the ABS?
At .id we are keen users of Census data and are eagerly anticipating the release of 2011 data in June.
However, it's not as if the ABS sits around twiddling its thumbs in non-Census years - they have an active demography program with regular releases to keep the Australian public, business and governments information of the latest trends.
We use a lot of this data at .id in our products and services. What are some of the more important releases, what information do they contain, and where can I find them?
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NZ Spotlight
The effectiveness of public consultation
Local Government does great work consulting with its local communities.
But as these communities change and become increasingly diverse, is the public consultation process keeping up with this trend?
Penny Bloomberg discusses this from a New Zealand perspective and introduces some interesting research coming out of Swinburne University that could assist with your consultation work
read more..
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inside .id
Economy .id just got even better
economy.id is a fantastic resource for helping a Local Government Area describe, explore and promote the local economy.
We've just rolled out a set of changes to make it even better.
Since the launch of economy .id just 18 months ago, over 40 Councils now use economy .id to better understand their local economy, to assist in the development economic policy and to help local businesses with investment decisions.
The new improvements in economy .id have resulted from client feedback, and also input from our economic modellers, NIEIR.
Here we'll go through the main changes and how best to make use of them. And watch this space because there's more to come.
read more..
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 A word from our researchers How much older can we get? We are living longer than ever before but there is significant controversy regarding the likelihood of continued increases in life expectancy.
In general terms, survival rates (share of persons living to next year by age) have increased in all age groups leading to higher life expectancy for both men and women.
How much older can we get?
read more.. |
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 Tips and Tricks
The case for being curious - in spatial decision making (and life in general)
The proverb 'Curiosity killed the cat...' is no doubt full of wisdom as proverbs are, but I frequently despair at the lack of curiosity people display.
Who would discourage anybody from being curious?
Being curious is the key to being creative. Not being curious is a dull way to approach life.
I believe that policy and research people are empowered in their work if they are curious. Their curiosity will enable them to build a narrative around the work they present. Story telling is the most powerful way to persuade and influence decision makers. .id's work is all about understanding places.
read more.. |
 Final word Should we build a new city in Australia? Last week I received an email from Harvey. He wrote that he's a regular reader of our blog and hoped we would publish a post about his new non-profit Liberty City Group.
Its objective is to gather support for building a new city in Australia's unpopulated north. I thought - wow - this man has grand ambitions!
I read his blog, passed it on to some of my colleagues and it generated a heap of discussion about the merits of the idea and the details of the one proposed by Harvey.
We thought our readers might like to join in the discussion. read more.. |
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Quick Contact
+61 3 9417 2205
NZ Freecall : 0800 955 481
info@id.com.au
10 Easey Street, PO Box 1689, Collingwood
Victoria 3066, Australia
www.id.com.au
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