2021-12-13 GC Agenda - Item 8 -Attachment 1 - Housing Needs Assessment

        more populated cities (such as Melbourne) which were in and out of lockdowns. The usual
        appeal of the city was lessened and university students were studying remotely online.
        This lead to overall population growth and put pressure on the housing market and
        affordability. Most housing stock consists of detached houses, so availability of apartments,
        units and townhouses has particularly been tight, for both purchase and rent.
        .id noted that when housing options become unaffordable to residents, including key workers,
        they leave in search of more affordable housing elsewhere. This not only disconnects people
        from their community but also results in employment and economic instability for regional
        communities. An unaffordable housing market affects an area's ability to attract and retain
        essential/key workers13


While there has been many new households moving to Noosa Shire during 2020 -2021, it is not clear
whether this will be a temporary “bump” as a result of COVID and whether newer residents return to
larger metropolitan areas or whether they stay long term in Noosa Shire. Sustained growth could not
be accommodated without significant changes to housing, traffic, carparking, infrastructure and
services.
3.3         Age Characteristics
As at 30 June 2019, the median age for Noosa Shire was 49.0 years, having been rapidly rising from
40.5 in 2001. Over the same period the median age for the state rose from 35.0 to 37.4.
While only 25.7% of the Noosa Shire population was under the age of 25 years at 2019, 32.4% of
the State’s population fell into this bracket.
Between 2001 and 2019, the proportion of Noosa Shire residents aged 65 years and over increased
from 14.9% to 25.6%. Over that period there was an average annual growth rate of 4.5% in persons
65 years and over. In real number this has more than doubled from 6,460 people in 2001 to 14,301
people in 2019.
Over the same period the number of residents aged 25-44 years actually fell from 11,869 in 2001 to
10,208 in 2019 with only a very slight increase in the number of children under 15 years of age. This
represents adults in the age brackets typically forming families and the correlating children they are
raising. Simplistically therefore younger families are representing a decreased component of our
communities and retirees a far greater one.
According to the ABS, every one of the six SA2s is underrepresented in age groups under 45 years
when compared to the State. Noosaville and Noosa Heads are particularly under-represented in
children and young people with Tewantin also quite underrepresented in young adults. The 25-44
year olds which would correlate with the family forming age groups are most particularly under-
represented in Noosaville and Noosa Hinterland.
The age groups over 45 years are over-represented. People aged 45-64 are particularly over-
represented in the beaches and the hinterland, whereas people over 65 are particularly over-
represented in Noosaville, Tewantin and Noosa Heads.
According to State estimates the highest 2019 median ages were in Noosaville and Noosa Heads
with median ages of 54.7 and 51.0 respectively, considerably higher than the State’s figure of 37.4
years. Median age was lowest along the beaches but still 46.4 at Peregian Beach-Marcus Beach
and 46.6 at Sunshine Beach. In the future the median age is projected to get quite high with the
figure for Noosaville projected to reach as high as 62.2 years by 2041.
Table 4 below shows the projected change in Median age between 2001, 2021 and 2041. Noosaville
is forecast to show the greatest change over this period.



13 Nenad Petrovic (22 July 2021) “Understanding housing affordability – a case study from Regional Australia”
published by .id consulting Pty Ltd.


Noosa Housing Needs Assessment 2021                                                                 Page 29