Spend your community's money wisely
how will .id benefit my community?
Make confident, evidence-based decisions that contribute to a fairer, more sustainable society.That's our vision. Here's how we can help.
1. Build confidence in decision making
.id provides councils with the means to move past observations, intuition, assumptions and anecdotal evidence and to test their assumptions using data – thus enabling them to have confidence that the decisions they are making are based on sound evidence. .id’s products are produced by expert demographers giving you complete confidence that the information you are using to make crucial decisions is accurate.
“Having access to reliable and meaningful information about Wellington is critical for Councillors and others faced with making big decisions about the city’s future."Mayor, Celia Wade-Brown Wellington City Council, NZ
2. Manage assets to meet changing demands
The next 20 years will see massive changes in the makeup of our populations around Australia. Some areas will experience significant ageing trends while others (often in the same council areas) will go through a growth phase with more young families moving in and a commensurate increase in young children. Assets that were developed and maintained for the age and growth profiles of the past may need to adapt and change to meet the needs of the new residents. Having access to information about these changes will enable asset plans to be developed to keep pace with the dynamic environment.
"The demographic and forecast products provide the City of Perth with the evidence base to plan housing policy and service delivery..."Peter Monks, Acting CEO Perth City Council, WA
3. Allocate resources to where they are most needed
Typically demographic analysis is provided only at the Local Government Area (LGA) level. This is not particularly helpful to councils as they conduct all their business within the LGA making suburb-level information essential. .id’s products present information at the neighbourhood level (suburbs, wards etc.) enabling councils to accurately target resources to the relevant communities within their LGAs.
“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, WA
4. Better use of internal resources
The cost of producing community profiles in-house will typically take between 6-8 months for 1.5 people (a senior officer and analyst) at a cost of around $80,000. .id’s complete suite of information products costs $55,000 per annum – providing you with expertise in Census, housing and economic analysis, as well as population forecasting – for less than the cost of one analyst.
Developing a partnership with a company that specialises in this area means council officers can spend their time considering the implications of the information provided rather than crunching numbers.
".id offered abs data in a way which was easy to use and understand. .id is responsible for all of the maintenance and updating so we don’t need to do these ourselves."Hiba Soueid, Community Development Holroyd City Council, NSW
5. Minimise spending on research projects
Councils frequently commission studies (eg housing strategies, youth, health and well-being plans) that require a demographic component. For example, in a $60,000 study, typically around $10,000 is spent generating demographic data. If only five studies are commissioned each year this could represent an annual cost of $50,000 or more. In addition, such demographic profiling is often sub-standard, rarely forward-looking and each study often presents different figures causing confusion across council and the community. .id’s products ensure consistent inputs for every study, delivering significant cost and quality assurance benefits.
6. Deliver consistency in reports and information
Economic and demographic data comes in many different datasets which are updated at different times. Because .id’s products are delivered online, and hosted by .id, they are regularly updated as new data becomes available - ensuring that councils always have the latest information on hand. By using just one, up to date and well-maintained central point for demographic information, council reports, media releases, grant applications and other documents will always be consistent and accurate.
"The information provided through .id has been used by Council in the production of reports such as the Wollondilly Community Strategic Plan and the Wollondilly Growth Management Strategy, as well as in the development of social planning snapshots and asset maps."Sarah Lees, Manager Community Services Wollondilly Shire Council, NSW
7. Provide useful information to your community 24/7 – and save staff time
One of the most time-consuming demands on council’s scarce resources is the requirement to meet increasing external demands for demographic related information, for everything from school projects to business investment plans to multi-million dollar developments. When councils put .id’s products on their own websites, the whole community (and beyond) has access to the information. Because no technical knowledge is required to use the product, it’s accessible to all members of the community as well as potential investors. For example, community groups and sporting clubs can use the information to target their recruitment of volunteers, members and players
“This is a great resource for people who may be doing research on Cardinia Shire whether for business, grant applications or even school and university assignments.”John Holland, Manager of Strategic Planning Cardinia Shire Council, Vic
"The benefit for the community is that they don’t need to spend numerous hours looking for supporting evidence; it is all available to download on our website."Hiba Soueid, Community Development Holroyd City Council, NSW
8. Encourage economic development and investment
Local businesses can use .id tools to plan investment decisions while interested investors from other areas can use it to consider new ventures within your council boundaries. Delivered online, in an accessible format, .id’s products are a great way to share important demographic and economic information with local industry and potential investors and promote the local area.
"economy.id® is a great new way to share important economic information to assist in the development of local industries and to encourage new industry and investment within the City of Monash."Mayor, Greg Male Monash City Council
“This isn’t just something for Council planners. Local businesses can use this profile to plan investment decisions and interested investors from other areas can use it when they are considering new ventures."Mayor, Celia Wade-Brown Wellington City Council
9. Enhance funding requests
Councils are increasingly being required to use demographic evidence to back up their requests for funding and to support their policy decision making. .id’s products make it easy to illustrate the need for external grant funding by delivering evidence-based information about areas of disadvantage, emerging health and community issues, or economic development and local skills training.
"Bankstown City Council chooses to use .id as the company provides easy-to-use and cost-effective tools for presenting and sharing demographic information. Council and the community have benefited enormously from .id tools, as the information made available is used when developing strategic plans, community programs, grant submissions and public information. The tools also allow community members to understand the demograghic changes and dynamics occurring within the city. The tools are flexible enough for Council staff to extract information for a range of purposes. Bankstown City Council would recommend using Profile, Atlas and Forecast to other Councils, as the tools are utilised and appreciated by individuals, community groups, businesses and other levels of government."Nathan Bartlett, Community Engagement Officer, Office of the General Manager Bankstown City Council, NSW
"We have found .id to be very helpful when we have needed assistance, and very accommodating in terms of providing data in different formats and groupings when required."Sarah Lees, Manager Community Services Wollondilly Shire Council, NSW