population forecasts
population forecasts

Plan for the future

forecast.id®

Know when and where to allocate resources and invest in infrastructure as the population changes.

Engage Australia's biggest and most trusted forecasting team to build a population and household forecast for your local government area, suburb by suburb. We'll give you the knowledge to make confident decisions about the future.

"The suite of id products is a vital resource for Knox, and forms an integral part of our demographic toolbox. The focus on small areas, availability of data over time, mapping capacity, benchmarking and population forecasting all support our understanding of the local community. This knowledge has been central to planning, resource allocation and determining future priorities."

Darlene Swan, Social Researcher City of Knox, Vic

The challenge for local government

The pressures on Councils to deliver services are ever increasing. More demands from your communities, extra reporting requirements and constraints applied by other levels of government, coupled with difficulties in balancing the budget, can be a real challenge.

Add to this, ageing populations, increasing overseas migration and population growth. In this environment, difficult decisions have to be made about how best to allocate finite resources across numerous services and facilities to meet the changing community’s needs.

How can forecast.id help?

forecast.id outlines what is driving population change in your community and forecasts how the population, age structure and household types will change between now and 2031.
Over 120 councils across Australia subscribe to this powerful information resource. They tell us that it helps them to:

  • Build confidence in decision making
  • Provide a trusted evidence-base for planning
  • Allocate resources when and where they are most needed
  • Manage assets to meet changing demands
  • Minimise spending on research projects (one set of numbers for all consultants)
  • Deliver consistent figures in reports and information
  • Enhance funding requests with powerful evidence
  • Successfully advocate for the community
  • Support businesses and investment by giving them access to the information

 

"Mitchell Shire is a growth municipality on the northern edge of Melbourne. For years we've used forecast.id to plan services and facilities more accurately than was possible in the past.  Evidenced-based planning is a far more acceptable method of considering budget allocations.  With forecast.id, our staff can show how many four year olds are likely to want kindergarten in years to come, allowing the groundwork to occur now. The same can be said for Maternal & Child Health, Recreation, Aged Services and so on."

Rob McVernon, General Manager Community & Recreation Mitchell Shire Council, Vic

“This is useful to Council decision-makers, because we often plan at a neighbourhood level but with information which is presented at a city-wide level, which can hide some of the important differences that exist across the city. Now we can plan more efficiently at a neighbourhood level.”

Mayor, Celia Wade-Brown Wellington City Council, NZ

Who uses forecast.id?

Over 120 local government authorities across Australia (and a growing number in New Zealand) subscribe to forecast.id. See our clients for a full list. 

Staff across many council functions from town planning to library services use forecast.id to:

  • Understand the population outcomes of policy decisions
  • Plan age specific services
  • Rationalise infrastructure assets
  • Compete effectively for funding
  • Advocate successfully for services provided by other agencies
  • Educate council staff and councillors about how their community is changing

Many councils makes their forecast.id website available to the public where community groups, investors, business people, students and the general public access the information. You can access these too at our demographic resource centre.

 

What does forecast.id look like?

“No longer is this sort of information trapped inside volumes of consultants’ reports – anyone can access it, at whatever time it suits them. It will enable individuals, community groups and organisations to better understand the community and tackle activities such as research, planning, and advocacy.” Councillor Kevin Skinner, Mayor Tweed Shire Council, NSW

 

Try out forecast.id

There are over 120 publically available forecast.id sites that you can look at. Here are some links:

Coffs Harbour City Council population forecasts (NSW) - coastal regional centre with significant growth

Campbelltown City Council population forecasts (NSW) - outer metro area coming out of high growth phase

Boroondara City Council population forecasts (Vic) - mature metro area with moderate growth

Wanneroo City Council population forecasts (WA) - outer metro rapid growth area

Campaspe Shire Council population forecasts (Vic) - rural shire experiencing moderate growth

Visit all forecast.id websites at our demographic resource centre.

" The demographic and forecast products provide the City of Perth with the evidence base to plan housing policy and service delivery, and also helps us to promote our city."

Peter Monks, acting CEO City of Perth, WA