2016 Annual Report
Wallumbilla details
Analysis of changes during 2016 will be presented here in June 2017. A recap of our 2015 analysis is presented here. The town data booklets - downloadable via the links shown at the left - are also being updated. They will be available here in June 2017.
Changes to Wallumbilla’s population
Data shows that Wallumbilla’s resident population has decreased from 2006, albeit with a slight rise in 2010-2012. From 2010 (the first year reported), non-resident workers in town outnumbered local residents.
School enrolments increased from 2008 to 2014, but they are down again in 2015. Families are reported to have moved to Wallumbilla from Roma to escape rising rents.
Housing in Wallumbilla
Interviewees said that CSG companies bought houses for accommodation for non-resident workers.
In town, those interviewed stated that they noticed the ‘fluoro shirts’ as non-resident workers stayed at the company-owned accommodation. With the CSG construction period now over, many of these houses are reported to be empty and for sale.
Non-resident workers were also located in camps outside the town. A main camp is still operating, and Wallumbilla interviewees say, ‘It’s not all over’.
Housing in Wallumbilla remained affordable, according to those interviewed. An increase in house sales was seen in 2012.
Rents increased significantly from 2012. Data shows the median rent for a 3-bedroom house at around $260 per week, but interviewees reported rents at a higher rate of around $500 per week.
Demand for housing is now low. In 2015, only 1 house sale was recorded.
Employment and skills in Wallumbilla
CSG development appears to have created jobs for local people. In 2013, unemployment in Wallumbilla was below 1%.
With men mostly away at work during the day, it was reported that women ran - and still run - many of the local businesses and services.
Unskilled labour was difficult to source locally as were local tradespeople, say interviewees. For the proportion of elderly residents who rely on help with home maintenance, this lack of tradespeople is said to have caused some inconvenience.
Business in Wallumbilla
Local businesses were said to generally welcome the increase in custom. They have clearly benefitted from CSG development. The net business income for Wallumbilla postcode as a whole grew from less than $200,000 in 2009-10 to almost $2,000,000 in the 2012-13 financial year.
The number of businesses filing tax returns in this period more than doubled.
Safety in Wallumbilla
Crime rates in Wallumbilla remain lower than the Queensland rates.
The influx of non-resident workers did not appear to cause conflict. There was no increasing trend in recorded assaults or good order* offences. However, the number of ‘Other Offences Against the Person’ did spike in 2012.
(*Good order offences are disorderly or offensive behaviour, which can be threatening or violent, which have the potential to interfere with another person’s peace in a public place.)
Traffic offences fluctuated and remained high. Theft increased in 2015, possibly in relation to an increasingly noticeable presence of drugs, according to our interviews.
See the Wallumbilla booklet for more information
The statistical data and more detailed perspectives from the Wallumbilla interviewees are available in the Wallumbilla booklet. The booklet includes 2015 data, and interpretations from UQ researchers.
We would like to thank members of the Wallumbilla community for their cooperation, and the gift of their time. We hope that we have done justice to their contributions to this investigation.
The UQ ‘Cumulative Impacts’ Research Team.