Waterfront locations dominate the list of Australia’s wealthiest LGAs, with Woollahra topping the list of the most affluent areas.
According to new 2021 Census data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), waterside locations dominate the list of the nation’s wealthiest local government areas.
Mosman LGA is Australia’s second most advantaged LGA, while Ku-ring-gai council area comes in third.
In total, NSW local government areas accounted for six of the top 10 places, while Western Australia had three LGAs on the list and the Northern Territory took out the other spot.
ABS Head of Census Dissemination Caroline Deans said Census data such as income, education, employment and family structure were used to create the rankings of the most advantaged and disadvantaged LGAs in the nation.
“Nine of the top 10 most advantaged Local Government Areas in Australia were on the waterfront or close to the water,” she said.
“These include Sydney Harbour, the Darwin waterfront, the Swan River in Perth and the top ranked Local Government Area in Australia was Woollahra on Sydney Harbour.”
Other insights of note include that 37 per cent of employed people in Hobart, the most advantaged LGA in Tasmania, are working professionals, which is much higher than the 20 per cent of the employed population of the state as a whole.
It’s also higher than the national portion, with 24 per cent of the working population being professionals.
“The Local Government Area of Walkerville is South Australia’s second highest ranked LGA and it’s got 20 per cent of its population that works more than 45 hours a week, which is much higher than the South Australian average,” Ms Deans said.
“Hobart is the highest ranking LGA in Tasmania, with 37 per cent of employed people in Hobart are working professionals, and that’s nearly twice the state average, clearly showing that relationship between level of occupation and their socio-economic advantage.
“Education data is also related to socio-economic advantage and disadvantage. For example, Boroondara is the most advantaged Local Government Area in Victoria and 52 per cent of its population have a university degree, so more than half have a university degree compared to 29 per cent for the rest of the state.”
At the opposite end of the scale, Woorabinda, 170km southwest of Rockhampton, was deemed Australia’s most disadvantaged area, followed by Cherbourg in Queensland and Belyuen in the Northern Territory.
The data also revealed it was possible for advantaged and disadvantaged LGAs to be located side-by-side.
Noosa and Gympie, in Queensland, are a prime example of this with Noosa ranked in the top 20 per cent of LGAs while Gympie ranked in the lowest 15 per cent.
Generally, disadvantaged areas tend to be in regional and remote communities, while advantaged areas tend to be in major cities.
“Socio-economic status is used by many groups, including government, businesses industry, researchers, to determine things like funding for services, policy development, business opportunities, and it’s also used to show the relationship between socio-economic disadvantage and outcomes such as health and education,” Ms Deans said.
