With the local government election fast approaching and regional employment having been a hot topic of conversation amongst the Sunshine Coast community, today’s release of the Sunshine Coast Business Council’s Employment Report has raised a number of important regional issues and prompted the organisation to call for a better balance between development, growth and the natural environment in the next term of government.
The report — which considers general unemployment rates, youth unemployment rates and new jobs generated in the area — suggests employment levels are largely stronger than three years ago, yet further action needs to be taken to heighten the prosperity of the region.
Sunshine Coast Business Council Chair Sandy Zubrinich said while some skepticism existed regarding the accuracy of some data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Sunshine Coast Business Council was confident regional employment rates had improved to a level close to or even exceeding the state average over the past three years.
“We have undoubtedly seen a decrease in the general and youth unemployment rates, and a much higher rate of employment so we commend the current Sunshine Coast and Noosa councils for their role in this,” Ms Zubrinich said.
“However, it is interesting to note that while 90 per cent of the employment growth experienced is concentrated in four industries — accommodation, retail, public administration and wholesale — these industries are not the main focus of the SCC Regional Economic Development Strategy.”
“Naturally, there is much more work to be done to sustain this momentum and expand into high value areas, and we encourage the mayor and councillors leading the charge over the next four years to make regional employment a key priority.”
“It is almost too easy for councillors to veto contentious development proposals rather than work through concerns raised by community members, so we challenge the two new local governments in our region to work collaboratively and work smarter in finding the delicate balance between development and preservation of the natural environment to deliver projects that benefit the community as a whole and in particular, our youth and young families through more jobs and careers.”
Ms Zubrinich said there had been a significant improvement in regional employment over the last 12 months, with the Sunshine Coast unemployment rate of 6.1 per cent slightly better than the annualised average for Queensland at 6.3 per cent and on par with that of Australia at 6.1 per cent.
“I believe this is in part indicative of the positive stimulus the new hospital precinct in Kawana has had on the local economy so it’s unfortunate to see that the opening of the Sunshine Coast University Hospital has been delayed by a number of months,” Ms Zubrinich said.
“This will have a substantial impact on the small businesses in the surrounding area that were focusing on an opening in November and I would expect that in some cases, businesses may struggle to survive until April next year, which is a real concern. It will therefore be interesting to see how employment levels fare between now and April 2017.”
“In regard to youth unemployment, the Sunshine Coast has outperformed other areas having one of the lowest rates in the state at 9.6 per cent in December; well below that of Australia at 12.1 per cent and Queensland at 13.2 per cent.”
Ms Zubrinich said the Employment Report had highlighted anomalies in the regional economy such as the continuing migration of 15-to-24-year olds away from the Sunshine Coast, as well as the higher-than-average number of residents aged 65 and over, which greatly impacted on regional income levels.
“The impacts these population trends have on the overall economic performance of the region needs to be better understood, and moving forward, it is important that we address each of these areas through the development and implementation of long-term strategies that enable our region to continue to prosper,” Ms Zubrinich said.
“In summary, while this report does indicate that we have made headway in tackling unemployment issues in our area, the new councils will need to focus their attention on understanding how these successes have been achieved, how the momentum can be maintained and how we can achieve growth in the industries identified in the Regional Economic Development Strategy.”
To view the full Sunshine Coast Business Council Employment Report, please visit www.scbusinesscouncil.com.au.