|
|
|
|
.id community monthly newsletter
|
September 2012
|
|
|
|
|
Greetings!
It is with much pride that we at .id have been able to present the changes to Australia's cities, towns, suburbs and regions in detail by providing the Census data in time series from 1991 to 2011 in the latest update of our profile.id application. That is 20 years of very detailed demographic history!
Cities, suburbs and towns change rapidly - and by that I mean that anyone older than say, 30 years of age, would have seen the neighbourhood they were brought up in for example, change significantly. If not so much in physical form, at least the types of people and households that are living there.
The effort that.id has put into presenting time series for thousands of towns, suburbs and places across Australia (and more recently New Zealand) has been huge, but I believe very worthwhile.
Cities and towns can only be fully understood by observing the cycles of change that underlie the role and function of places.
And we can only effectively plan for the future if we understand the impacts that our policies and planning have had in the past.
That is why time series is 'gold' to anyone in the business of understanding how Australia's places are changing.
Enjoy exploring change in the new profile.id application and stay tuned for more updates.
Sincerely,
Ivan |
|
|
 Focus on Local Government
Move over baby-boomers - it's not all about you!
Lailani and Nathan spent three very pleasant days in Longreach, Queensland attending the LGMA Conference. For us Melburnians, the opportunity to spend time in real sunshine was special enough - but added to that we were provided with an opportunity to present some new and interesting findings about Queensland's population. What we presented reveals that commentators and planners may be placing too much focus on the aging baby boomers - and not enough on other age groups which are showing significant growth. This has important implications for asset management, resource allocation and service delivery across the State. Download the presentation which walks you through important demographic changes in Australia and Queensland. For speakers notes roll over the speech bubble in the top left corner of each slide.
|
 Census 2011 Australia's fastest growing religions
As well as people's beliefs and affiliations, religions are also a measure of the cultural diversity in the nation.
The fastest growing religious groups represent communities which have had a lot of migration in the last few years. So which are the fastest growing religions (and communities)?
read more.. |
 2011 Census - The geographic distribution of religion
In my final blog on religion in the Census, I will focus on how particular religious affiliations are distributed around Australia.
Religion is strongly associated with cultural background, and the breakdown of these religions can reveal how particular groups are moving within our cities, and also something about our history.
read more.. |
|
Spotlight on NZ
Local Government deja-vu
Local government in New Zealand is on the verge of reform ... again.
The recent Better Local Government proposals are poised to potentially transform the role and shape of councils. But change is not a new thing for Kiwi councils.
The evolution of local government over the last century and a half has often been awkward, and seldom flowing or direct.
read more..
| |
|
|
inside .id
Census 2011 update activity
Whew! We've been flat out with all the Census updates in the last month, with over 230 Local Government profile.id sites going online with a new, fresh design (see Tips and Tricks for more info) and of course the addition of the 2011 Census data. We've sent out a letter to all clients about what they need to do for the new site (if you don't have the letter, here is a generic version) We've completed our first training video, which outlines the changes to the site and all the improvements we've made. You can find the video here. We'll soon have many more videos to watch - we are planning to deliver about four new videos every month. Also, we've published our first forecast.id desktop update (where we update the forecasts using the latest 2011 ERP figures) and we'll be rolling out the rest of the desktop forecast updates in the next couple of months. We've even found time to attend a few events last month too - the National EDA conference in Queensland, and the NSW and Queensland LGMA conferences. We like to participate in these events as it gives us a chance to support the sector that supports us, and to meet with our many clients (and potential clients). We really appreciated everyone who came by our booths to say hello. Our blog and newsletter have continued to grow rapidly, with our blog readership now topping 16000 readers a month, and our newsletter subscriber list now includes more than 6000 local government and associated professionals. And finally, we've begun a massive "training season" to ensure all Councils are trained in the use of the new profile.id site and also the new Census data. If you haven't had an on-site training session scheduled yet, please contact us and we'll get a time and date organised for you. |
|
A word from our researchers
The pyramids of age
One of the most important indicators of the demand for services is the age structure of the population.
Australia has an ageing population as evidenced by the increasing number and proportion of persons in the older age groups.
But the delivery of many services is often predicated on the age structure of larger geographic regions (I'm often amazed at how some policy people in government consider that states are small geographic areas!), and this ignores the wide variations in the age structure than can occur even within local government areas.
We recently had a guest blogger highlight the implications of the changing age structure in inner northern Melbourne and the impact on school services.
This blog will show examples of age structures for smaller communities (SA2 level) and what this might mean for service delivery.
read more.. | |
|
 Tips and Tricks
What's new in profile.id?
Profile.id has been re-released with the 2011 Census data analysed and presented in tables and charts, ready for you to incorporate into your planning and reports.
Not only will you find the 2011 Census data, but an entirely new website complete with new topics, enhancements of existing topics, an improved user interface and modern design.
Profile.id is used by 230 local governments and their communities across Australia and New Zealand. From professional planners and demographers to students, community groups and local businesses - these sites are used every day to support good decision making.
You can access all 230 of the updated sites from .id's demographic resource centre.
Read on to find out about the new design, new features and how it's even easier to find the information you need.
read more..
|
 Final word Evidence vs. Conformity At .id, we advocate the use of our demographic and economic tools to make evidence based decisions. It's important to remember that often, this evidence may fly in the face of established "myths" and commonly held views, many of which may have been around for some time. Local Government examples include misconceptions about population characteristics of an area, such as, "That suburb is just full of older people" or "That's a suburb for young families" or "everyone in our City speaks English".
These misconceptions can often lead to inappropriate service delivery or misplaced capital expenditure.
And in these cases, hard evidence is needed to shift the existing opinion, particularly as it's human nature to "conform" to the commonly held view.
But to what degree do people tend to "conform" to the commonly held view, and how can we convince them?
The results are quite surprising...
read more.. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
+61 3 9417 2205 info@id.com.au
NZ Freecall : 0800 955 481 www.id.com.au
10 Easey Street, PO Box 1689, Collingwood, Victoria 3066, Australia
|
|
|
