Monitor and respond to changing needs

Not all communities with a population of less than 10,000 are in decline or static. Overall, the number of Australians living in small towns increased from 2.2 million people in 2011 to 2.3 million people in 2016.81

These figures include some rapidly-growing communities that are managing the extra pressures population growth is putting on existing infrastructure. As discussed earlier in this chapter, this challenge has been compounded by accelerated growth in some communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to their small size, minor population increases or decreases in these communities can have a significant impact on local economies and access to services.

Governments should monitor smaller towns that are experiencing strong population growth. This would include regular infrastructure assessments involving local participation to ensure their infrastructure capacity is not overwhelmed and funding infrastructure that supports continued sustainable population growth.

Governments should also ensure these rapidly growing small towns have appropriate land use plans to respond to the scale of current and anticipated population changes.

State and territory governments can support this by cascading down their regional development plans into appropriate local planning documents that remove barriers to growth and contribute to wider strategic goals for the region.