This Appendix summarises the recommendations of Brooks et al. (2001) on recommended methods for assessing social and economic impacts using readily available data. They recommend that each Comprehensive Regional Assessment region should be statistically profiled to the collection district and urban centre locality scales, with collection of the data summarised in the table below, and analysis of trends in the data. They then recommend that the analysis should focus on (p 134):
Identification of features which tend to indicate a community's increasing vulnerability to change, or a decreasing viability and adaptability. Features that would indicate a decrease in a community’s capacity would include; an increase in the age of the population, unemployment, dependence on government pensions or allowances, or dependency ratio's; and decreasing levels of education and median household incomes.
The methodology focuses on identifying community vulnerability to change which can assist in predicting likely impacts of change, rather than on assessing direct impacts of particular changes in the forest industry.
Data | Data Type | Measure |
|---|---|---|
Local Economic Viability | Industry by employment | Employment by industry |
Employment and Labour Force | Rate of unemployment* | Unemployment by Urban Centre Locality |
Age structure of Work Force | % Population by age category by industry | |
Educational skill level of community | Education qualification attained (left school 16yrs, vocational and tertiary) | |
Level of Indigenous employment | Number of indigenous employees by industry | |
Socio-demographic structure of communities
| Level of household income | Median household income- UCL |
Population distribution | Total population and dependency ratios | |
Age structure | Median age | |
Ethnicity | % population English speaking | |
Presence of dependent children | Proportion of children 0-14 + dependant youth (15-24) currently in full time education | |
Years of residence in area | More than five years in location | |
Community infrastructure | Retail and trade service | Business register |
Community vitality
| Housing ownership | % home ownership |
Income distribution | Median income by age group | |
Dependence on social* security | Adults over 25 years of age dependent on government pension of allowance |
* All data types used ABS data sources, except Rate of Employment (ABS and Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business), and Dependence on Social Security (CentreLink, & Department of Family and Community Services)