Public administrators main commuters living in Newcastle: KPMG
Public administration and safety workers account for the largest proportion of long distance commuters living in Newcastle, making up 11% of the workforce.
They far outstrip the city’s long distance miners -- at 7% of the workforce -- although the miners achieved the highest growth rate -- 3% -- in 2011. Despite this, Newcastle’s long distance mining commuters are under-represented when compared to the national average of 21%.
A KPMG report has found that over half of Newcastle’s long distance commuters travelled to and from Sydney to work in 2011. A further 11% travelled to other parts of the state – 5% to the nearby Hunter Valley.
In 2011, 5524 long distance commuters lived in Newcastle, up 677 from 2006 - or 14% - compared to a growth rate of 37% nationally, or three times the rate. The resident workforce grew 10% in the same period.
Long distance commuters to the Pilbara increased 484% - up 92 workers from 111 – over 2006-2011. This group of mainly construction workers made the long commute to take advantage of the resources boom. It had the largest percentage growth among Newcastle’s long distance commuters.
The report highlights that, despite lingering perceptions that Newcastle is a mining centre, that industry employs only 6% of the workforce. It is not a typical ‘home’ for long distance commuters, in the manner of, say, Mackay, whose population predominantly commutes long distances into a mining region.
The chart (take in Proportion of LDC workers living in Newcastle etc) shows that Newcastle’s close proximity to Sydney presents it with a range of employment opportunities across multiple industries. This is evident in the relatively flat spread of long distance commuters across all industries in 2006 and 2011 when compared to other study regions.
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With its nearness to the Hunter Valley, most workers in the mining industry live in the region, and don’t commute long distances from further afield.
The report found that 374 mining and construction workers made up 13% of those commuting to and from Sydney.
Public and administration and safety attracted more than half the 89 Novocastrian workers listing Canberra-Queanbeyan as their workplace in 2011. The report says this is ‘’not surprising’’ as it’s the seat of government.