Profiles take new look at WA's Local Government areas, Aug 2000

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MEDIA RELEASE

August 17, 2000
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
100/2000
Profiles take new look at WA's Local Government areas

Attention: News Editors (WA only)



Western Australia's 112 regional local government areas now have access to a new suite of economic and social statistics with the release today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) of detailed local government area profiles.

In releasing the profiles, WA's Regional Director of the ABS, Colin Nagle, said they were part of a strong ABS effort to meet the information needs of regional decision makers.

"ABS is keen to put the statistical tools for informed decision making in the hands of decision makers," he said.

"These profiles of Local Government Areas will provide a means to better understand the composition of a local government area and how that area contributes to WA's economy and society."

"They are designed to meet a wide range of regional information needs, including those for policy formulation, service provision and analysis."

Mr Nagle's views were supported by the Director of Local Government Development at the Department of Local Government, Mr Ian Cowie, who said the profiles would help useful analysis of the key economic and social characteristics of an LGA and strongly support information initiatives to better manage performance at the local government level.

"They will be of real benefit to council decision makers," he said.

Each profile provides a range of tables and graphs that allow easy reference and analysis. There is detailed information in the form of graphs, tables and time-series data about population, employment, social services, taxation, and local industries.

Some selected data from the profiles show that:

    • The Shire of Derby-West Kimberley experienced net estimated resident population growth of 10.4 per cent, or 733 persons, in 1998/99. For the same year, the Shire of Coolgardie population fell by 6.16 per cent, or 328 persons.
    • In 1999, the City of Kalgoorlie/Boulder had 6258 students attending 15 schools. The City of Geraldton had 6431 students attending 14 schools during the same year.
    • The Shire of Busselton had 601 new residential dwelling units approved in 1998/99 at a total value of $64.5m. The City of Albany had 280 new residential units approved in the same period at a total value of $30.1m.
    • The value of agricultural commodities produced (VACP) for the Shire of Esperance in 1996/97 was $231.8m, which contributed to 5.4 per cent of total state VACP.
    • The value of minerals and petroleum production for the Shire of Roebourne in 1998/99 was $3.46b in 1999, which contributed to 20.7 per cent of mining value in WA.