Alexandrina Council welcomes the consideration of ‘second residence/ownership of other dwelling’ as part of the review for the 2021 Census. We anticipate this data will be invaluable for assisting Council to plan for coastal trends across a range of areas from social, environmental, economic and cultural. It will also assist in representing the true impacts of population in coastal areas during peak times for which areas like the Australian Government Financial Assistance Grants do not currently factor in. Census data can provide an evidence base that could built into grants formulas.
Choose your area of interest
Please select one item
(Required)
Ticked
Population
Sex and gender
Households and families
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Income and work
Unpaid work and care
Education and training
Disability and carers
Housing
Location
Transport
Cultural diversity
Religion
Other topic
Topics on Population
Choose one or more topics that relates to your submission
Please select all that apply
Name
Date of birth or age
Children ever born
Ticked
Other/don't know
If other please specify
Second residence/ownership of other dwelling
Assessment Criteria 1
1.
This topic is of current national importance.
National Importance
By second residence or ownership of other dwelling, we refer to non-resident ratepayers who live at a primary place of residence counted by the Census, but who also own property (second, third or more dwellings) in our local government area and are not counted in our estimated resident population. As a popular coastal holiday destination, our population swells at seasonal times, for which we must provide infrastructure but for which we are not recognised in ABS population data. Also, as an LGA with a strong early retiree demographic who are highly mobile, it would assist us to be able to understand the impact of use of second residences.
We envisage that a useful result of a question, would be able to ask a supplementary question about what proportion of time is spent at a second home. We would like to be able to follow over time data that tells us the story of X% of residences are occupied Y% of the year – that is, a transition from principal residence outside the LGA to occupying a second home for some of the time within the LGA and that increasing over time until transition to it being a primary place of residence.
The data would be used in strategic and long-term planning as it is a requirement of the SA Local Government Act 1999 that trends in our community’s nature and interests be identified and taken into consideration. Obviously, movements in people over time from a primary place of residence to a secondary place of residence will be very useful for a coastal community to factor in for infrastructure and development provision. It will also benefit other forms of Government eg. for planning purposes it would indicate the communities peak season demands from a service delivery point of view such as hospital or emergency resources required at peak times. It will also benefit peak bodies such as Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) and the Local Government Association of South Australia (LGA SA) to aid their planning and advocacy.
If the topic is not included in the 2021 Census, Alexandrina Council (as a small, regional local government authority) will struggle to put in place its own data collation mechanisms to track similar data over time.
In persistently missing a key trend in our mobile population movements, we run the risk of degrading the quality of our infrastructure faster than we would otherwise plan, or not put in place sufficiently robust infrastructure in the first instance.
The Alexandrina LGA has two different localities with differing population trends – one inland and closer to the Adelaide Hills (Strathalbyn) and one that follows the Fleurieu coastline from the Murray Mouth to Port Elliot (Coastal). We anticipate the trends involved in second residence/ownership of another dwelling will also differ – with Coastal likely to depict second home ownership more prominently.
Census data:
Questions - 'Where does the person usually live?' and 'Where did the person usually live five years ago? While this data is useful, its lag data and helps explains present impacts, not assist our strategic planning to manage future impacts (which a question on second home is more likely to do).
Local data:
Waste usage may be a data source, but this will only produce tonnage increases, not population counts. Fleurieu Regional Waste Authority collects waste data for the Alexandrina region.
This topic is recommended, and advocated for, by leading academics such as Professor Graeme Hugo. It is also a feature of discussion as part of the Australian Coastal Councils deliberations and we anticipate would be widely welcomed by local government – especially coastal areas. Refer to Professor Hugo’s address to the Australian Coastal Communities Councils Conference in 2013: http://www.seachangetaskforce.org.au/Publications/MON%204%20Hugo.pdf
Assessment Criteria 2
2.
There is a need for data from a Census of the whole population.
For whole population
Data collection for the whole population on second home/ownership of another dwelling, if done on a national scale, will enable national, state, regional and local trends to be understood and compared across Australia. Combined with vacancy rates, this will assist, particularly coastal councils to provide an evidence base of population impacts during peak times.
Assessment Criteria 3
3.
The topic can be accurately collected in a form which the household completes themselves.
Easy to answer
The topic second home ownership/ownership if another dwelling is very easy to understand and answer.
Assessment Criteria 4
4.
The topic would be acceptable to Census respondents.
Acceptable
If appropriately communicated by the ABS in introducing the Census 2021 to community, the question is not likely to be controversial as many in the community own more than one dwelling - it is not unusual.
Assessment Criteria 5
5.
The topic can be collected efficiently.
Collected efficiently
The topic is manageable from a collection viewpoint.
Assessment Criteria 6
6.
There is likely to be a continuing need for data on this topic in the following Census.
Continuing need
Population trends and impacts of seasonal populations are long ranging and there will be a need to collect this information over multiple Census periods. Particularly as technology is enabling Australians to live more easily in multiple dwellings over the period of a week, this is likely to become an even more pressing issue into the future. For example, in Alexandrina Council many residents spend varying days of the week and seasons of the year at metro and coastal dwellings. There is increasingly a mixed pattern, especially with the introduction of NBN into the area.
Assessment Criteria 7
7.
There are no other alternative data sources or solutions that could meet the topic need.
No alternatives
Local data:
Waste usage may be a useful data source, but this will only produce tonnage increases, not population counts. Fleurieu Regional Waste Authority collects waste data for the Alexandrina region.
Any further comments?
If you would like to tell us anything else about your submission, please comment below.
Further comments
This topic is likely to be of interest to many regional and coastal councils, as well as policy makers.