General News
19 July, 2022
Census deep dive into housing crisis
CONSULTATION business Street Ryan and the Wimmera Development Association (WDA) recently hosted an online conference discussing how people per dwelling has affected the housing shortage in the Wimmera Southern Mallee (WSM). “(This conference will...
CONSULTATION business Street Ryan and the Wimmera Development Association (WDA) recently hosted an online conference discussing how people per dwelling has affected the housing shortage in the Wimmera Southern Mallee (WSM).“(This conference will be) a deep dive into what the census means for our towns and our communities,” WDA executive director Chris Sounness said.More than 50 people attended the online conference, held on July 8 via Zoom, where the results of the 2021 census report were discussed.Street Ryan’s Executive Chairman Wayne Street delivered an in-depth analysis of the report, concentrating mainly on population, households and housing while briefly touching on cultural diversity in WSM.Mr Street said outright ownership of housing has increased within the WSM but a housing shortage remains at the hand of how rentals are being distributed.“Outright home ownership (without a mortgage) has increased significantly in 20 out of the 24 towns (covered),” he said.“Homes with mortgages also increased in 14 of the 24 towns.“The other side of the picture the rental market, it’s a converse situation where homes for rent have been taken out of the market which is exacerbating the already tight market. Only 7 out of 24 towns have increased in rental stock during that five-year period.”The 24 towns covered include Warracknabeal, Minyip, Murtoa, Rupanyup, Apsley, Birchip, Charlton, Dimboola, Donald, Edenhope, Goroke, Halls Gap, Horsham, Hopetoun, Great Western, Jeparit, Kaniva, Natimuk, Nhill, Rainbow, Sea Lake, St Arnaud, Stawell and Wycheproof.It was identified that 74 percent of households in the Yarriambiack Shire house 1 to 2 people, although 21 percent of dwellings are 1 to 2 bedrooms, showing that average bedrooms per house are not being occupied by a resident.High outright home ownership was shown in Yarriambiack, West Wimmera and Buloke with 56 percent and lowest in Horsham at 40 percent.Low levels of rental properties continued through WSM with 14-16 percent available in Buloke, Hindmarsh, West Wimmera and Yarriambiack. Twenty-five percent of rental properties are available in Horsham and 20 percent in Northern Grampians.Read more: Over 100 new COVID-19 cases for regionMr Street said that there has been a low level of rental housing stock as identified between the WDA’s 2020 housing report and the 2021 census data.“It really is rental housing stock that is the biggest issue,” he said.“Even more compelling is the fact that not a lot of that rental stock is being managed through traditional renting, most of it is informally rented out.“Around 37 percent, excluding Horsham, is informal renting or provided by an employer.“Just under 20 percent of dwelling stock is available for rent in the WSM compared to 30 percent Victoria wide.”According to the 2021 census data, there are 1259 private dwellings in Warracknabeal with an average of two people per household and a population of 2359 people.In Minyip, there are 288 private dwellings with an average of 2.1 people in each home. The town population was calculated to be 525.Murtoa has 479 private dwellings with a median of 2.2 people per dwelling out of the 897 population.In Rupanyup, there are 2.3 people per dwelling, across 286 private dwellings, with a town population calculated at 545.All Wimmera Southern Mallee areas, excluding Horsham, have a median population age more than 10 years older than the state average.The towns that have had the most population growth in the five-year period are the ones that have a larger relative population in the 24-44 and 45-64 age brackets.Mr Street concluded that almost all of the 24 towns have had an increase in occupied dwellings since 2016, with the only exceptions being Wycheproof and Goroke.The conference also lightly touched on the rise of Aboriginals in Torres Strait Islanders in the region.In 2016, only 1.2 percent of the population identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.By 2021, that had grown to 1.8 percent with a large proportion of Indigenous populations residing in the Northern Grampians, Horsham, Yarriambiack, Hindmarsh and Buloke.“The proportion of residents in the region that are now identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander has gone up significantly (between) 2016 and 2021,” Mr Street said.“The reason, I think, is twofold. One is that people are becoming more prepared to identify as Indigenous and secondly (Indigenous communities) tend to have a younger age profile so there is a greater proportion of natural increase.”Mr Street said that there had also been growth in migration despite the pandemic across the state, with the census concluding that two-thirds of Victorians were born in Australia and one-third were born overseas.