Originally Published July 6 2022
MORE families are choosing to ditch the cities and call Gannawarra home, with Census data last week revealing more than 70 families now reside in the municipality over the past five years.
But the district’s overall population growth is well behind state and national averages.
Initial data releases from the 2021 Census last Tuesday deflated expectations that population movement away from Melbourne would translate to a boost in numbers in the region, while the state capital’s population actually grew by almost 500,000.
The Gannawarra local government area’s population grew by just 134 to 10,683, between 2016 and last year, while Victoria’s figure rose by 9.7 per cent and the nation’s by 8.6 per cent.
The area’s population growth, however, included the addition of 71 families. The average number of children per family dropped by 0.1 over the five years at 0.5 averaged across all families, and 1.9 kids for families with children.
Gannawarra Shire Council claimed its efforts “to promote the Gannawarra as a place to invest and live” has played a “major role” in the municipality’s continued population growth.
“The 2021 Census data shows that people are taking notice of the Gannawarra and are prepared to live, work or invest in the area,” Mayor Charlie Gillingham said.
“Whether it is our abundance of lakes, rivers and waterways or our proximity to regional centres such as Bendigo; the Gannawarra proved to be a popular place for people to move to during the last five years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The biggest population growth was in Koondrook, with 110 more residents, followed by Kerang (67), Murrabit (29) and Leitchville (18).
However, there were population declines in Cohuna (from 2428 to 2415), Quambatook (249 to 229) and Lalbert (151 to 138).
“The population increase is testament to council’s efforts to recognise the environmental strengths of the Gannawarra and developing this for commercial gain,” chief executive Tom O’Reilly said.
“This is being achieved by focusing on the ART of the Gannawarra, (Agriculture, Renewables and Tourism) which includes encouraging opportunities to diversify our agriculture sector, attracting investment in renewable energy projects, and promoting our nature-based tourism attractions.
“Council expects this population growth to continue, especially given the high level of business development in agriculture, energy, mining, industrial and residential that are anticipated to create more than 400-plus jobs in the next few years.
“This is coinciding with proposed works for KerangLink, which when approved to proceed to the construction stage will generate billions of dollars of investment in renewable energy projects, as well as thousands of construction jobs.”The first release of data from the 2021 Census also shows that:
- Median household income in Gannawarra has risen by $163 over the past five years, nudging the figure above four-digits.
- The median age was 51
- There were 5314 men and 5368 women
- More people divorced in the past five years, from 759 in 2016 to 865 in 2021 (49.2 per cent were married and 13.4 per cent were either divorced or separated).
- Median weekly rent rose from $150 to $195
- Mortgage repayments, on average, rose by $23 to $1000
- The percentage of population in the 30-44 age group was substantially lower than state and national averages, while that of people aged 65 or older was significantly higher, almost double in some age categories.
- The number of occupied private dwellings rose by 132, to 4359, while the number of unoccupied dwellings decreased by 160 to 613.
- The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the district rose significantly, from 203 to 268.
- More than 4319 declared they had no religious affiliation, an increase of 1384.
- The number of people who performed voluntary work through an organisation or group (last 12 months) dropped on 2021, from 2775 in 2016 to 2064. The COVID-19 pandemic is the likely cause of this decrease.
- Long-term health conditions were above the state average. The top type of condition was arthritis (1551 people, 14.5 per cent. State average: 8 per cent).
Nationally, the Census showed Australia’s population was 25.4 million last year, up by about two million on 2016.
Sydney remained the nation’s largest city, with a population above five million, although Melbourne was only about 300,000 people behind at just under five million.
Some of the census data released so far has concerned social service provider Mallee Family Care.
Chief executive Teresa Jayet said a growing population was putting pressure on services, while income and accommodation stresses meant more people were in need of assistance.
“It shows a growing population that is increasingly under pressure, from a financial and mental health perspective,” Ms Jayet said.
“As the cost of living continues to climb, we are seeing more people reaching out to our organisation for support.”
