2015-03-03 Attachment 1 it Item 5 Planning & Organisation Agenda Community Profile Report

Noosa Coommunity Profile
Final Rep
        port A



Key
  y Pointt Sum
             mmary
                 y
          The Noosa  a Shire is ve
                                 ery similar to
                                              o South East Queenslan  nd (SEQ) and   d Queenslannd (QLD)
          across ma any socio-ec conomic indiicators, howwever, it difffers significa
                                                                                    antly in twoo distinct
          areas. Firsstly, Noosa’s
                                 s population is older annd aging faster than the   e rest of the
                                                                                                e region.
          Secondly, Noosa has a greater rel iance on tou urism for its economy th an SEQ or QLD.Q    This
          evident in findings su uggesting thhe retail trade and acco ommodation    n and food services,
          industries which accou unt for a larg
                                              ge proportio
                                                         on of tourism
                                                                     m expenditurre, are Noos   sa’s most
          significant employers. These two ffactors shape e Noosa’s soocial and eco onomic struccture and
          will continu
                     ue to shape its social an
                                             nd economic future.


Overv
    view
          The Noosa  a Shire is ve            o South East Queenslan
                                 ery similar to                      nd (SEQ) and   d Queenslan nd (QLD)
          across ma  any socio-ecconomic indiicators, howwever, it difffers significa
                                                                                    antly in twoo distinct
          areas. Firsstly, Noosa’s
                                 s population is older an nd aging faster than the  e rest of the
                                                                                                e region.
          Secondly, Noosa has a greater re    eliance on tourism
                                                          t       for its economy   y than SEQ or QLD.
          These two factors shap  pe Noosa’s ssocial and ec
                                                          conomic stru
                                                                     ucture and w  will continue to shape
          its social and
                     a    economic future.
          Overall, th
                    he analysis of
                                o socio-eco
                                          onomic indicaators reveals a vibrant,, healthy community
          and economy, with a few
                                f  areas forr concern/monitoring intto the future
                                                                                e, including:
           Noosa is a relativ  vely older c community that is aging faster tthan SEQ an      nd QLD.
            This dynamic of No   oosa’s demo  ographics will
                                                         w have a significant
                                                                      s           mpact on numerous
                                                                                 im
            areas in
                   n the commu   unity and ecconomy. Having an olde   er populatio
                                                                                 on will drive demand
            for vario
                    ous health and
                                a     aged carre services. At the same
                                                                     e time, a larrger numberr of older
            residentts means that the prop ortion of pe   eople out of the workfoorce is higheer, which
            means that there are fewer people wo         orking to suupport thosse that are retired.
                   nally, community infrasttructure nee
            Addition                                      eds across individual
                                                                      i         toowns as well as the
            Shire ass a whole will need to a ppreciate this shifting demographic trend. Therre will be
            a need for increase  ed aged carre services, health serv  vices and mmany other specialty
            areas. Consideratio  on for opp ortunities to t attract more
                                                                      m      youngg families into the
            commun  nity (potenttially througgh proactive economic developmen     nt to generaate local
            jobs) woould assist in
                                 n rebalancingg the demog graphics.
           Noosa relies on tourism a         and population drive    en industrries for ec   conomic
            growth h. While tourrism is an im mportant sector locally and provide es economic benefits
            through the expen    nditure of v visitors, tourism can be very vola   atile and is
                                                                                              s a very
            competitive industrry. An overr-reliance on tourism can create an econom         my more
            susceptiible to fluctu
                                 uations as w             ng career paths for youn
                                            well as limitin                       ng people (a
                                                                                             and other
            residentts) through  h a focuss on tourrism oriented employ           yment (i.e.. retail,
            accomm modation, ca   afé, restaurrants, etc.)). The sign nificance off populationn driven
            industrie
                    es highlightss the lack off other high value-adding industriess, which can drive an
            economy forward. Proactive
                                  P         ecconomic dev velopment too rebalance the econom my would
            assist in
                    n mitigating g against fuuture risks and
                                                           a   providin
                                                                      ng a more solid founda   ation for
            future economic
                   e           gro
                                 owth and vita ality.
           Noosa has lower household        d and perso   onal incom me levels th   han SEQ an  nd QLD.
            Noosa’s economic and demog        graphic mak ke-up means that it h      has numerous older
            residentts that are on fixed incomes as well as many resid               dents that work in
            proportionally lowerr wage indusstries (such as retail, ac ccommodatio    on and food service,
            etc.). Co
                    ombined witth wealthy a   absentee home owners, it is not su rprising that income
            levels are lower in Noosa.
                                 N       In te
                                             erms of grow wth, local ind
                                                                       dividual incom me levels ha
                                                                                                 ave been
            growing above the rate of infflation (whic    ch indicates real growtth over time    e), while
            househo old incomes have been     n growing slightly
                                                           s       slowwer than infflation, indicating a
            stagnatiion of local wealth. Enssuring the lo ocal econom my delivers g  growth and valuable
            employm ment opporttunities for llocal residennts will help to rebalancce the econo  omy and
            ensure that
                    t    all local residents haave the high
                                                          hest standard d of living po
                                                                                     ossible.




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