First look: How South Burnett, Qld will change in the next 20 years

The region is expected to continue transforming in fundamental ways, with new reports revealing what it will look like – and the problems it may face – as it heads towards 2046.

The South Burnett’s already small population growth is expected to shrink further in the coming years while the region continue to grapple with a staggering level of socioeconomic disadvantage.

The South Burnett’s low population growth is expected to shrink further in the coming years while the region continues to grapple with a staggering level of socio-economic disadvantage.

Latest figures from the Queensland Government Statistician’s office reveal the region’s age gap compared to the rest of the state is expected to widen further in the next two decades.

The figures show the median age of South Burnett residents in 2023 was 48.4, almost 10 years older than the statewide average of 38.5.

By 2046 this was expected to creep up to 52.1 years, almost 11 years older than the rest of the state.

This was driven by an ongoing demographic gap in the region’s 25-44 age group.

The South Burnett’s already low population growth is expected to shrink further in the coming years while the region continue to grapple with a staggering level of socio-economic disadvantage.

Where this age group makes up 27.6 per cent of Queensland’s overall population, in the South Burnett it accounts for less one fifth (19.3 per cent).

In contrast, more than a quarter (26.8 per cent) of South Burnett residents were aged 65 or older, eight percentage points higher than the state’s 17 per cent average.

The brakes were expected to be put on a population which had been growing at the same rate as Queensland’s, too.

From 2021 to 2046 the South Burnett population is predicted to grow from 33,325 to 36,691, an average annual growth rate of .4 per cent.

This was a drop from the region’s average annual growth rate of .5 per cent between 2013 and 2023.

In comparison Queensland’s population was expected to increase at a rate of 1.5 per cent per year in the same period.

The expected growth will come amid lingering socio-economic concerns in the region.

The figures show in 2021 the region recorded a homelessness rate of 36.1 people per 10,000, a rate lower than Queensland’s 43.2 per 10,000 people average.

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Economic disadvantage in the Wide Bay Burnett remains among the worst in Australia, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.

Economic disadvantage remains a major problem with three out of every five (59.9 per cent) of the region’s population falling into the lowest fifth of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ SEIFA disadvantage scale.

Another 28.2 per cent fell into the second most disadvantaged, meaning almost nine out of every 10 residents were in the lowest socio-economic tiers.

The ABS says low SEIFA scores are found in places with “many households with low incomes, or many people in unskilled occupations, and a few households with high incomes, or few people in skilled occupations”.

Only .5 per cent of the region’s population falls in the top fifth of the disadvantage scale.

The median personal income in the South Burnett is $542 per week, more than $200 less than Queensland’s median of $787.

The median yearly personal and family incomes are $28,184 and $69,524.

These were below the state averages of $40,924 and $105,248.

The region’s residents are also reliant on social service support payments, with higher rates of people in the region claiming the aged pension, carer allowance, disability support pension, family tax benefit A, and Jobseeker than the state’s average.