A FASTER WAY TO FIND DATA FOR YOUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA


Finding your local government area
Exploring local government areas using the NRP
New data in the latest edition of the NRP
Finding the NRP on the ABS website and accessing help information


On 29 April 2010 a new and improved issue of the National Regional Profile (NRP) was released to the ABS website. This is the first time the NRP has been released using a Google map based interface, making it easier to find data for your local government area and other regions. The NRP contains a range of interesting social and economic data items from the ABS and non-ABS sources. Data is grouped into four key topics: Economy, Population/People, Industry and Environment/Energy. Data is available in a five years time series (where available) for the period from 2004 to 2008. This edition includes several new datasets that will be of interest to local government.


Finding your local government area

The new NRP entry point makes it easier to find your local government area using familiar Google features. There are several ways to find your local government area. You can use the address search box to type a specific address, a locality (suburb or town) or the name of your local government area; use the map and zoom in and out to find your region; or pick your region from the tab that lists local government areas by name.

Once you have located your local government area, a data profile can be downloaded with one click of the mouse. In the example below, the Moreton Bay (R) Local Government Area (LGA) on the south-east coast of Queensland has been selected. The shaded area shows the boundary of the region, with topographic features of the Moreton Bay area shown in the Google map underneath. Users can zoom in or zoom out to see more or less detail. A data profile for Moreton Bay (R) (LGA) can be downloaded by clicking on the 'Get data about...' link in the information window or from the pick-list on the left.

You can also download a detailed Excel spreadsheet of data for your local government area from the data profile, or compare data for regions using the SuperTABLE datacube which is accessed from the 'Compare Regions' link at the top of the NRP Welcome Page.



Exploring regions using the NRP

Once you have accessed the data, it can be used to explore the characteristics of your local government area. In the example below we have used the LGA of Moreton Bay to show how characteristics can be analysed from a particular point in time or compared over time using the five year time series. We also show how you can compare data for a region with other regions.

In the twelve months from 30 June 2007 to 30 June 2008, the population of Moreton Bay (R) LGA increased by 3.4% (11 831) to 356 709 persons. This was a higher growth rate than the nearby LGAs of Sunshine Coast (R) and Brisbane (C) which during the same period increased by 2.9% and 1.7% respectively. It was also higher than the population growth rate for Queensland which was 2.3%. The total number of males in Moreton Bay (R) LGA increased by 13.5% from 2004 to 2008 and the total number of females increased by 12.6% from 2004 to 2008. This amounted to a 13.5% or 41 204 person increase in the total population over the five years. In 2008, there were slightly more persons aged 30-34 years when compared to 2004 and 5441 more persons aged 60-64 years in 2008 when compared to 2004.

In 2008, there were 150 more births compared to 2007 or 1 146 when compared to 2004. This is reflected by the higher fertility rate in 2008 (2.3 babies per woman) compared with 2004 (2.0 babies per woman). The 2008 fertility rate for Moreton Bay (R) LGA was higher than the fertility rates for the nearby LGAs of Brisbane (C) (1.7) and Sunshine Coast (R) (2.0) as well as the Queensland rate of 2.0 babies per female.

From 2007 to 2008, there were increases in the number of persons receiving a Carers Payment (6.1% or 119 persons), Age Pension (Centrelink) (5.4% or 1 654 persons), and Disability Support Pension (2.7% or 317 persons) in the Moreton Bay (R) LGA. At the same time, there were decreases in the number of persons receiving Youth Allowance (-12.2% or 510 persons), Newstart Allowance (-8.7% or 469 persons), and Parenting Payment (Single) (-9.1% or 709 persons). The rate of persons receiving Newstart Allowance for more than a year was relatively stable at 55.8%.

The total dwelling units approved in Moreton Bay (R) LGA in 2008 was 4 501 compared with 4 881 in 2004. Over the five years from 2004 to 2008, the average value of private sector houses in Moreton Bay (R) LGA increased $55, 100 to $219, 800. The average value of private sector houses in the nearby Sunshine Coast (R) LGA increased $74 400 to $278 100 and $ 70 500 to $252 400 for Queensland.





Other interesting data about Moreton Bay (R) LGA includes:

• In 2007, the highest proportion of wage and salary earners were aged 35-44 years. Of the total wage and salary earners, the largest proportion (19.9%) were classified as 'Intermediate, Clerical, Sales and Service Workers', followed by 'Professionals' (13.4%), and 'Tradespersons and Related Workers' (11.4%).
• Of the 24 669 businesses at 30 June 2007, more than a quarter (or 6 300) were in the 'Construction' industry, 21.5% (or 5 316) were in the 'Property and business services' industry, followed by 11.2% (or 2 754) in the 'Retail trade' industry.
• In 2008, there were 697 registered motor vehicles per 1 000 population in Moreton Bay (R) LGA compared with 737 per 1000 population in the Sunshine Coast (R) LGA.
• In 2008, 45.7% of the total registered motor vehicles in Moreton Bay (R) LGA were 10 years or older, and 27.2% were less than 5 years old.
• In 2006, there were 55 000 hectares of agricultural land and the total gross value of agricultural production was $167.7 million in the Moreton Bay (R) LGA.
• In 2008, there were 175.1 persons/km2 in Moreton Bay (R) LGA compared with 100.1 persons/km2 in Sunshine Coast (R) LGA.

New data in the latest edition of the NRP

Some of the examples given for the Moreton Bay LGA are data items that are new to this issue of the NRP. New data to this issue of the NRP includes:

• Estimates of household wealth
• Age of motor vehicles
• Value of agricultural production
• Water Use on Australian farms
• Selected Government pensions and allowances

Finding the NRP on the ABS website and accessing help information

The NRP can be accessed directly from the links on the left of the ABS Home page.



A range of updated 'help' material is available from the NRP welcome page in clearly marked in the coloured tabs above the map.



The first three tabs detail how to find a region, compare regions, and information about the data available in the release. The last tab,'Videos and other Help' contains video demonstrations on how to use the NRP, information about the regions, and frequently asked questions.