Growth and liveability in the Australian regional towns: A case study of Mackay, Queensland

The main driver behind the growth of Australian regional towns, especially of those in Queensland and Western Australia, is the continuous development of resources such as coal industry boom. This study undertook three growth indicators such as population trend, labour force movement and gross state products to characterise the growth of a regional city in Queensland, Mackay, which has been affected by coal mining boom in the central Queensland region since 2000. Then the study undertook a large scale survey to understand the regional liveability, including the liveability of Mackay.The study found that the liveability of Mackay did not match with the level of growth in and around the city, and the condition of economic and environmental capitals is better than that of human and social capitals. Therefore, the priority areas to increase the liveability within this city are to increase the human development services such as education, training and health facilities and to improve social cohesion and community empowerment. The findings from this study are replicable to other similar regional towns in Australia or internationally where the city has a mix of mining services, agricultural trading and tourism activities.