Australia’s largest cities and towns – 1986 and 2016

Simone - Myth Buster

Simone has a rich background in human geography, demography and urban planning – a background that was useful in her previous roles in the Commonwealth and State Governments, and now as part of the forecast team at .id. From the Queensland coast to the southern suburbs of Perth, Simone produces population and dwelling forecasts that help local governments make informed decisions about future service and planning needs. She is a regular contributor to .id’s blog and has spoken at several conferences on how our cities and regions are changing. She is a big advocate of evidence-based planning and how Census and other data can inform this. Outside of work Simone is a keen traveller and photographer – interests that tie in well with her professional life and help her to understand “place”.

You may also like...

4 Responses

  1. Alan Midwood says:

    The apparent rapid growth of both Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast was due to boundary changes. In 1986 the boundary excluded hinterland areas that were contiguous with the coastal strips and have since been included.

  2. Simone says:

    Hi Alan – thanks for your comment. It is mentioned in the blog that boundary changes affect UCL boundaries, and in the case of the Sunshine Coast, the ABS did not define it as a UCL that year. There is a footnote to the table to this effect.

  3. Paul says:

    Hi Simone – As a Sunshine Coaster for many years (first as a tourist and then as a resident) I have shared in the changes of the area. The area was once thought of as both “God’s waiting room’ and Australia’s playground – with a majority of people either retirees, aged support staff, tourists or tourist support businesses. But in the last 10-20 years, the number of families coming to live on the coast has begun to turn this around. While the average age is still creeping up, the momentum is slowing and if current trends continue, the average age will eventually begin coming down. Big employers are coming to the coast (think Youi global headquarters, the Sunshine Coast University Hospital (first ‘brand new’ hospital in Australia for many years), port for new international submarine communication cable, etc.). Now, finding the right social, economic, environmental balance is becoming a bigger issue. But so far, so good (in my opinion!)

  4. Andy says:

    It really makes a difference to show how these figures are calculated and where they come from. Sydney and Melbourne both have populations over 5m. Also, Maitland is part of Greater Newcastle.

Leave a Reply to Andy Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

.id blog