Issues

• Population and Settlement Patterns
• Environmental Health
• Acoustic Environment
• Urban Design
• Drinking Water Quality
• Social and Economic Conditions
• Education

• Transport
• Energy Sources and Use

• Solid Waste
• Hazardous Waste
• Contaminated Sites

At a glance

The issue

The sustainability of Tasmania's settlements is inextricably linked to their economic and social conditions. Social and economic well-being can be measured through equity, employment status, income, economic activity, and education. When tracked over time, these measures help us determine how to responsibly maintain and improve well-being into the future.

The National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development was endorsed by state and territory governments in 1992. It defined sustainable development as 'development that improves the total quality of life, both now and in the future, in a way that maintains the ecological processes on which life depends'.

Equity is a central principle of sustainable development. Equity refers both to fairness among people in the present, and between present generations and those yet to be born. The development of human capital (health, education, employment opportunities, welfare and well-being) has fundamental long-term flow-on benefits for individuals, communities, systems of social and economic management, and ecosystems. Therefore, improvements in educational attainment, employment status, income, housing adequacy, and other social and economic conditions enhance social sustainability. Such improvements will, in turn, advance collective abilities to focus on environmental sustainability.

Unemployment is a key consideration in assessing social and economic conditions. Unemployed people have lower incomes, fewer opportunities to be active citizens, diminished confidence over time, less capacity to consume in ways that may enhance sustainability (such as buying energy saving appliances or organic foods), higher than average morbidity and, therefore, probably a decreased quality of life.

This 'At a glance' section provides an overview of the Social and Economic Conditions Issue Report. Several indicators are provided within the report.

No specific recommendations are provided on social and economic conditions, although there are relationships between many of the recommendations in this report and maintaining productivity of the environment necessary to sustain social and economic conditions.

Favourable news

• Recent statistics show a net decline in the rate of unemployment. In the 12 months to June 1997, at the time of compiling the previous SoE Report, the unemployment rate in Tasmania was 10.2%. It fell to an average of 8.6% in the 12 months to June 2003 (ABS 2003). This pattern is confirmed by employment trends. Tasmania's recent employment growth, with higher levels of both full-time and part-time employment, together with a reduction in the unemployment rate, indicates that there are growing employment opportunities in the State.
   
• Many Tasmanians and mainland settlers also see a shortfall in economic security as tolerable because of the quality of life that prevails in the State. Data from the 1998 Healthy Communities Survey, conducted by the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services, demonstrate this point. From a total of 15,112 respondents, only 36% thought their income was satisfactory. However, nearly 72% stated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their standard of living.
   
• Partnerships between the State Government, local councils, and communities are leading to improvements in social and economic conditions. Brighton Council is a nationally recognised example of where such partnerships have paid dividends in fostering sustainability.
   
• In June 2001, Tasmanian home loan affordability was at its highest since 1994, driven largely by falls in interest rates that resulted in average monthly loan repayments also decreasing (REIA 2001). The picture in Tasmania is one of relatively high housing affordability-almost 70% of households either own or are purchasing their own homes. High levels of home ownership, or the capacity to take on mortgage loans, suggests that Tasmanians are relatively well-off and that home ownership contributes significantly to the perceived quality of life.
   
• There are recent positive changes through increasing tourism investment, new investors in Tasmania, retirees coming to the State, and families moving for the safety and lifestyle. In the December quarter 2002, Tasmania's population increased by 2,272 persons (0.48%) compared to the same period in the previous year.
   
• The State Government announced the 'Affordable Housing Strategy' in December 2003. The Affordable Housing Strategy provides a wide range of opportunities for Tasmania to develop a new and revitalised housing system designed to look after people on low incomes. It will result in a greater range of housing assistance, with alternative funding sources and new ways of managing housing (refer to DHHS - Affordable Housing Strategy).
   

Unfavourable news

• Tasmania traditionally experiences higher levels of unemployment than the nation as a whole, and this higher rate has various flow-on effects in terms of the State's overall economic well-being. More recent statistics show, however, a net decline in unemployment rates (see 'Favourable news').
   
• Until recently, poverty analysis at a scale sufficient to reflect the concentration of poverty in certain areas was limited by a lack of suitable data. As poverty is known to be related to unemployment, parental status, disability, receipt of government benefits, and income, poverty rates at more local scales could only be inferred from such individual measures. In 2001, the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling released its study of Australian postcodes with the highest and lowest rates of poverty (Lloyd et al. 2001). The authors of this study developed a methodology blending a range of socio-demographic, income and expenditure data for census collectors' districts, founded on households as the base unit. Characteristics include age, sex, employment status, principal source of income, occupation, tenure type, marital status, household type, number of dependants, and country of birth. The postcodes with the highest and lowest poverty rates in each state were selected. Although Tasmania had the highest average poverty rates of 13% of its population, there is less divergence between highest and lowest than in the other states. St Mary's, in the north-east of the State, had the highest rate of poverty, with a fifth of the population below the poverty line. Taroona, a suburb of Hobart, had the State's lowest poverty rate of 6.4% (although this was significantly higher than the lowest poverty rates in other states).
   
• In 1996, approximately 7.2% of Tasmanian households depended on public rental dwellings for accommodation compared with an Australian average of 5.2%. While the stock of public housing matches the distribution of population across the State, its adequacy is in doubt, since much of it is ageing, inappropriate in size for the predominantly lone person and single parent households seeking public housing, inappropriate in standard of amenity and location, and in need of extensive upgrading and/or redevelopment (Housing Tasmania 1999).
   
• While average floor areas are rising, the number of people per household is falling as household characteristics change. The number of single parent and single person households is increasing.
   
• Taking into account the number of people receiving housing assistance, a considerable proportion of people in the private rental market are receiving some form of Centrelink rent assistance. Based on a 25% affordability benchmark, Housing Tasmania concluded that the 11,500 people receiving such assistance were in unaffordable private rental accommodation (Housing Tasmania 1999). This finding may indicate the inability of this group to service mortgages.
   

Uncertain news

• Recent changes experienced in the Tasmanian housing market have included increasing median house prices and rental housing shortages. The implications of these changes for many of the indicators contained in this report, which are based largely on 2001 Census data, have not been assessed.
   
• In terms of reported economic growth rates, Treasury urges caution in the use of the most recent state Gross State Product (GSP) data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (Department of Treasury and Finance 2003). State GSP data, especially for a small economy such as Tasmania, tend to be quite volatile and often subject to substantial revision. The GSP data have not always been consistent with partial economic indicators over recent years and the ABS continues to classify this series as 'experimental'. The ABS has for some time recognised the nexus between economic growth and resource use and they have been developing sets of 'satellite accounts'. These accounts document the flow through the economy, in physical units, of a range of natural resources, including land, water, forests, fish, energy and minerals. Only a few of these physical accounts are available at a State scale (most are aggregated nationally only). Accordingly, the indicator is presented as a work-in-progress.
   

• Issue Report - continued in depth