Census data shows population and housing boom in City of Kwinana

New census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has highlighted the rapid growth of the City of Kwinana, including an Indigenous population higher than the national average. Kwinana’s population grew 3.3 per cent each year since the last census, meaning one new person joined the community roughly every 6.3 hours. In the past five years there were more than 6900 new residents recorded, pushing the total population to 45,867 people. The city’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population also grew to 4.4 per cent, well above the national average of 3.2 per cent. The average Kwinana resident is aged 33, with those aged between 34-44 seeing the biggest growth between census recordings. With more residents comes more houses and Kwinana housing stock increased with 2774 new dwellings being built since 2017, or the equivalent of 1.5 new houses per day. Income has also increased with a person’s median income up to $812 per week up from $682 in 2017. The average household income also increased to $1716 from $1471 in 2017. Bizarrely, the number of households with four or more cars grew more than 10-fold — up to 1013 from 98. To accommodate the rapid growth of the city, the Kwinana City Council recently passed its budget for the 2022-23 financial year full of community and infrastructure projects, including finishing up the Honeywood Oval pavilion, the Kwinana South Fire Station replacement building, new oval lighting for Wellard West Oval, and the development of the Kwinana Loop Trail master plan. Mayor Carol Adams said the budget will “ensure that the city is ahead of this growth and balancing the increasing requirements for infrastructure and demand for quality community facilities and services”.