SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
The Hunter has localised the targets and chosen to report against the following primary indicators* to determine our progress:
- 11.1.1 Homelessness
- Percentage of housing that is supported housing
- Percentage of population experiencing homelessness
- Rental stress
- Rent as a fraction of household income
- Mortgage as a fraction of household income
- 11.2.1 Public transport
- Number of public transport trips in Hunter
- 11.5.2 Losses in natural disasters
- Losses in natural disasters based on insurance claim values
- 11.6.2 Air pollutants - fine particles in the air
- Annual mean levels of fine particles PM2.5 and PM10 (24-hour average)
- 11.7.1 Public open space
- Percentage of total land that is green and public
* Data provided was last updated in 2023. It is anticipated that the data sets will be updated once every 2 years.
11.1.1 Homelessness
Percentage of housing that is supported housing
Trend
There is a declining trend of supported housing in 2021 as compared to 2017 for Hunter Region and Australia. Whereas, statistics for NSW remain constant.
Things to note
Supported accommodation is a type of housing that provides higher level care and support for people with particular needs. It includes: supported accommodation that is in the community, for people with a disability.
Percentage of population experiencing homelessness
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Trend
For NSW, there is decline in the homelessness since 2016. Hunter Region Total shows an increase in homelessness percentage.
Things to note
"Homelessness" includes those sleeping out, living in supported accommodation for the homeless, staying in other households, living in boarding houses, temporary lodging, or severely overcrowded dwellings.
Percentage of households in rental stress
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Trend
Housing stress measured at the state and federal level show that it is increasing over time. It would be expected that that has been occurring in the Hunter region, with some variation from LGA to LGA. COVID in 2020-2021 has created an additional impact.
Things to note
Housing stress is being tracked in the Australian Census at the LGA level from 2021. Indicators related to housing stress can suggest local forces that can affect housing stress, which can then be used to assess whether housing stress in a given LGA has been climbing or falling.
Percentage of low income households in rental stress
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Trend
Low income rental stress trends show a similar pattern in the Greater Sydney Area as in the rest of the state - namely, a sharp increase in the 2013-14 period before a slow decline from then on. Notably, almost 16% more low income renters in Sydney are facing rental stress than their non-Sydney NSW counterparts.
Things to note
Rental stress stopped being estimated from survey data on a bi-yearly basis for low income renters after the 2019-20 data intake. As a substitute, rental stress is now being recorded as part of 5-yearly census data. "Lower income" household is defined as those households in the 3rd to 40th percentile of equivalised disposable household income.
Rent as a fraction of household income
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Trend
There is a steady increase in percentage income spent on rent since 2006 till 2016, followed by a decline in 2021. Some Hunter LGAs do show a different trend of steady increase with no decline.
Mortgage as a fraction of household income
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Trend
The year 2011 depicts an increase in the percentage income spent on mortgage as compared to year 2006 however there is a gradual decline since 2011 in this value.
11.2.1 Public transport
Number of public transport trips in Hunter
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Trend
For all the modes of public transport in the visual, there was a sudden decline in the number of trips in 2020 as compared to previous years. These numbers are slightly increasing since. Train usage is the highest, followed by bus, light rail and ferry.
Things to note
Train data: Included both Central Coast Newcastle line and Hunter line.
Light Rail data: Among the Hunter region, the Light rail facility is available only for Newcastle LGA. Stations included are Civic, Crown street, Newcastle beach, Newcastle Interchange, Queens Wharf and Honey Suckle). Light rail OPAL trip details are available only from year 2019.
Bus data: Patronage data for 5 bus services for hunter region (Newcastle, Hunter valley and Port stephen).
Ferry data: For Ferry - Newcastle data was collected Data available from year 2017.
Source
11.5.2 Losses in natural disasters
Losses in natural disasters based on insurance claim values
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Trend
Hailstorms were the cause of the highest $ loss values in the years 2016,2017,2018 and 2020. In 2019, Bushfires were the major contributing factor. Since 2020, flooding has led to the highest $ loss values across locations.
11.6.2 Air pollutants - fine particles in the air
Annual mean levels of Fine particles PM2.5 and PM10 (24-hour average)
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Trend
The year 2019 depicts the highest proportion of concentration as compared to other years for both the particle types across all locations in the visual.
Things to note
Air quality monitoring is only available at Lake Macquarie, Muswellbrook, Newcastle and Singleton LGAs. Lake Macquarie air quality monitor was installed in 2021.
11.7.1 Public open space
Percentage of total land that is green and public
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Trend
There is a stable trend of the percentage of green space across Hunter LGAs between 2016 to 2020.
Things to note
As the data for public space is not available, this data is considered based on the national park percentage, as they are accessible by public use. Public space is defined as area of National Park as a percentage of total area