Charles Darwin University’s My Territory Connections survey reveals how much we love the Top End

Top End residents feel connected to their communities and homes and this could be the key to retaining the NT population at current levels, researchers say. See the results of a new survey.

Top End residents feel connected to their homes and communities. Picture: Contributed

Researchers believe they have found a way to improve the emotional wellbeing Northern Territory communities.

The Charles Darwin University has released a survey, which its authors say fills some of the social data gaps not covered by Australian Bureau of Statistics data collection.

CDU Northern Institute Demography research associate Fiona Shalley said the new data would be important for those seeking to improve wellbeing and social outcomes.

She said more than 3000 people living in the NT took part in the first My Territory Connections survey between November 2021 and June 2022.

About 57 per cent of respondents called themselves Territorian and this included participants who did not originate from the NT but had strong feelings of attachment to the community.

“We were getting responses such as ‘I think like a Territorian’ and ‘I am accepted by my community without any preconceptions about where I might originate from’,” Ms Shalley said.

“Although there was evidence of participants’ strong feelings of attachment to the Territory, 68 per cent also felt a strong sense of connection to another part of Australia or another country, and a similar percentage had families living outside the Territory.”

She said this may have influenced the rate at which Territorians relocated from the NT.

“Some of the results will be used directly as measures in the Social Outcomes Framework, and others will be used as inputs to the Territory’s first Social Capital Index,” she said.

“We are building the index now and it will allow us to monitor the value of our community connections over time, and whether investing in our ‘relationship bank’ makes life better for everyone.”

Ms Shalley said the survey also asked questions about Territorian support networks and feelings of safety in their community.

“The results reveal our feelings of trust, neighbourhood friendliness and our comfort level with population diversity which underpins community cohesion,” she said.

“This is increasingly relevant to its resilience when facing complex challenges associated with our health, the economy, and the natural environment.”

Ms Shalley said a better understanding of how people connected to the Territory was important when attracting and retaining the population.

“It has significant population diversity in terms of languages, cultures, and lifestyles, and a small population spread over a large space that can be a challenge when we think about how to connect people with each other and with the services they need,” she said.

“It also has a pretty constant population churn – the people who come to live here, and leave to live somewhere else each year.”

Ms Shalley said the survey found the participants who felt strong connections to their status as a Territorian were “changed” in some way.

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Originally published as Charles Darwin University’s My Territory Connections survey reveals how much we love the Top End