Understanding the Region - Economy and Society

The social determinants of health are strongly influenced and shaped by access to income, education and resources that women have access to. By understanding the drivers to our local economy, we gain insight into where our efforts will be needed in the medium to longer term; and also, where possible future investment from government and industry will be.

Growth and Change

Analysis of population data from the region tells us that the SMR is highly dynamic and diverse. As can be seen in Figure 1, growth and economic projections from local Councils further indicate that this change will not decline but rather, increase from approximately 1.573M residents in 2018 across all 10 LGAs to 2.103M in 2036 (State of Victoria, 2019). This is further highlighted by the current data released by Centre for Population in 2022 which demonstrates an overall decrease 1.29%, saying this there has been an overall 10-year population growth of 1.77%.

Within this region, the latest ABS data on regional population growth delivers the following highlights: