Interim community profile and literature review: Project 6.1 Social profile of the Eyre Peninsula and west coast region - literature review and community analysis

This report provides a first analysis of these issues and will be complemented by the discussion of qualitative and quantitative primary data in subsequent reports. This report finds that: • The Eyre Peninsula is the country of a number of Indigenous nations and a number have maintained links to their traditional lands; • There are numerically significant populations of Indigenous Australians on the Eyre Peninsula; • The region has a small population but is economically significant, with major export industries in grains production, fisheries and aquaculture, livestock production and minerals; • A number of centres have recorded a decline in population over recent years and this reflects a number of demographic processes, as well as economic shifts, including the amalgamation of farm holdings; • There have been significant shifts in population over recent years, and the population overall is ageing with more than half the population aged over 40; • Some coastal centres, such as Franklin Harbour appear to be attracting older immigrants; • Family households comprised of a couple with children are the most common household type in the region and may expand further if major resource developments proceed;