Barkly - Tennant Creek Region
The Barkly region covers 283 606 sq kms, which is 21% of the Northern Territory. It covers the Tablelands, Alpurrurulam, Elliott District, Tennant Creek Town and a number of Indigenous areas adjacent to Tennant Creek.
Tennant Creek is the service centre for a rural population more than half the size of the town itself and for the tourist population passing through the area. The region is synonymous with the cattle industry. The rich grassland of the Barkly Tableland supports some of Australia’s premier cattle stations and accounts for 39% of the value of the cattle industry. The region also supports a range of other industries including mining, tourism, retail, government administration and defence.
The Alice Springs to Darwin railway connects the Top End of the Territory to the rest of Australia through the Barkly and Katherine regions and is expected to further enhance the economies of both regions.
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Regional Demographics
Population
The population of the Barkly region at June 2007 was 6330. Tennant Creek was home to 3427 people, 54% of the region. Indigenous people make up 60.4% (3256) of the Barkly region's total population.
Source: ABS Catalouge 3201.0 Population by Age and Sex, Australian States and Territories, June 2007
ABS, Special Data Request, 2008
Next census due in August 2011, and data expected by early 2012.
Median Age |
The median age is 27 years in the Barkly region and 31 years in Tennant Creek. |
Working Age |
Seventy three per cent (3690) of the Barkly region's population is of working age (between 15-64 years) with 2006 persons of working age living in Tennant Creek. |
Average Number of Household Occupants |
Average household occupancy is 3.5 occupants in the Barkly region and Tennant Creek and 5.3 occupants for homes in Indigenous areas adjacent to Tennant Creek. |
Median Housing Loan Repayment |
The median monthly housing loan repayment for the Barkly region at the time of the 2006 Census was $660, with Tennant Creek averaging $672. |
Median Weekly Household Income |
The median weekly household income for the Barkly region at the time of the 2006 census was $862 with Tennant Creek Town averaging $997 and areas adjacent to Tennant Creek averaging $543. |
Source: ABS Catalogue 3201.0 Population by Age and Sex, Australian States and Territories, June 2007
ABS 2006 Census QuickStats: Tennant Creek (T) excl. Town Camps (Indigenous Location)
ABS 2006 Census QuickStats: Tennant Creek Balance (Indigenous Areas) and ABS Basic Community Profiles, Census 2006
ABS, Special Data Request, 2008
Next census due in August 2011, and data expected by early 2012.
Economy
The Barkly region has an estimated 3960 people in the labour force with 2175 persons living in Tennant Creek.
Employment in Tennant Creek is dominated by public administration and public safety (25%), health care and social assistance (12%), construction (9%), retail trade (8%) and accommodation and food services (8%).
Occupation profiles in Tennant Creek include professionals (17%), community and personal service workers (15%), labourers (15%), technicians and trades workers (14%) and clerical and administrative workers (13%).
Source: ABS 2006 Census of Population and Housing - Basic Community Profiles by Location - Barkly
2006 Census of Population and Housing - Basic Community Profiles by Location - Tennant Creek
Next census due in August 2011, and data expected by early 2012 .
Key Industries
Mining
The value of production from mining in the Barkly region was estimated at $126 million in 2007-08. Major commodities include manganese, gold and iron ore.
Agriculture and Horticulture
The main driver of agriculture production in the Barkly is cattle with most properties in the Barkly region company owned and, in general, the size of properties is larger than other regions. Properties range from 4000 sq kms to 14 000 sq kms in size. The average property runs more than 24 000 head of cattle, with over 140 000 turn off in numbers.
In 2008-09, agricultural production in the Barkly region totalled an estimated $157.1 million. This represented 19% of total primary industries production in the Northern Territory. The region had a total farm area of about 13 million ha (25.8% of the farm area), averaging just over 465 000 ha per farm. The number of beef cattle carried in 2003-04 was estimated at 426 468 head (28.5% of the herd).
Source: Barkly Region Snapshot 2008
Tourism
In 2008 the Barkly region attracted 100 000 tourists, around 25% of these visitors were from overseas.
Source: Tourism NT
Content current at 30 April 2010.