MEDIA RELEASE
April 23, 2009	Embargoed: 11.30 am (AEST)	23/2009

Large population growth occurred in the outer suburbs of the capital cities in the 12 months to 30 June 2008, according to population estimates released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The largest increases in each state and territory occurred on the fringes of capital city Statistical Divisions (SDs). The most significant was the outer-suburban Local Government Area (LGA) of Wyndham in Victoria increasing by 8,900 with Wanneroo in Western Australia and Blacktown in NSW increasing by 8,600 and 5,300 respectively.

In the smaller states and territories, the largest growth was experienced in the outer-suburban LGAs of Salisbury in South Australia (2,400), Palmerston in the Northern Territory (1,500) and Kingborough in Tasmania (630).

In the Australian Capital Territory, where LGAs do not exist, the Statistical Local Area (SLA) with the largest growth was Harrison (1,550), and in Queensland, where the Brisbane LGA covers multiple SLAs, the outer-suburban Ipswich - East SLA increased by 3,700 people.

Capital city growth remains strong

Capital city SDs accounted for over two-thirds of the total growth with the overall population in capital city SDs increasing by 1.8%, which is slightly higher than the remainder of Australia (1.6%).

In the capital cities, the City of Brisbane LGA recorded the largest growth (17,400 people) while the City of Perth was Australia's fastest-growing LGA increasing at a rate of 10.8%.

Coastal hotspots

Queensland's seaboard continued to experience large growth. In the south-east, the Gold Coast LGA increased by 13,200 people, Moreton Bay by 11,800 and the Sunshine Coast by 8,700; while further north, the population grew by 6,000 people in Cairns and by 5,100 in Townsville.

Rapid growth was recorded along the Western Australian coast in Mandurah (5.1%) and Busselton (4.6%) and in South Australia, the fastest growing of all seaside LGAs was Victor Harbor (3.5%).

Further information is available in Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2007-08 (cat. no. 3218.0) .

Media Note:

Please ensure when reporting on ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.

Regional population growth data highlights for 2007-08

NEW SOUTH WALES

• The Sydney Statistical Division (SD) grew by 55,000 to 4.4 million people.
• Outside of the Sydney SD, the fastest growth rates occurred along the NSW coast in the Richmond-Tweed (1.6%), Mid North Coast (1.2%), Hunter and South Eastern SDs (both 1.1%).
  

VICTORIA

• Melbourne SD's growth of 74,600 people was the largest of all the Australian capital city SDs
• The LGA of Wyndham (C), located on the western suburban fringe of Melbourne SD, experienced the largest and fastest growth (8,900 people or 7.2%) of all Victorian LGAs.
• The fastest growth outside of the Melbourne SD continued to occur in coastal areas including the LGA of Surf Coast (S) (3.6%) and Bass Coast (S) (2.3%).
  

QUEENSLAND

• The three most populous LGAs in Australia - Brisbane (C), Gold Coast (C) and Moreton Bay (R) - recorded the largest increases. The population of Brisbane (C) increased by 17,400 (1.7%), the Gold Coast (C) by 13,200 (2.7%), and Moreton Bay (R) by 11,800 (3.4%).
• Outside of south-east Queensland, the LGA of Cairns (R) had the largest and fastest growth with an increase of 6,000 people (3.9%).
  

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

• Victor Harbor (C), on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula, and Mount Barker (DC), in the Mt Lofty Ranges east of Adelaide, were the two fastest growing LGAs in the state, increasing by 3.5% and 2.9% respectively.
• The two LGAs with the largest growth were in the northern suburbs of the Adelaide SD; Salisbury (C) experienced the largest increase (2,400) followed by neighbouring Playford (C), which increased by 2,000.
  

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

• Three-quarters of Western Australia's population growth occurred in the Perth SD, which grew by more than 800 people each week on average.
• Over one-third of Western Australia's LGAs outside of the Perth metropolitan area had declining populations.

TASMANIA

• Sorell (M) (2.8%) and Brighton (M) (2.5%) were the fastest-growing LGAs in Tasmania.
• The largest growth occurred in Kingborough (M) (630) and Launceston (C) (400).
  

NORTHERN TERRITORY

• Palmerston (C) had the fastest growth (5.5%) of all Northern Territory LGAs.
• Outside of Darwin SD, the fastest-growing LGAs were Central Desert (S) (2.2%), Roper Gulf (S) (2.1%) and Barkly (S) (2.0%).

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

• Growth was largest in northern suburban Canberra, especially in the SLAs of Harrison (1,500 people), Bruce (810 people) and Gungahlin (500 people).
• The largest decreases occurred in the outer southern SLAs of Kambah (260 people) and Wanniassa (160 people).