The economic boom !

In troubled times, where is this safe-haven that provides high and rising wages, widespread employment and rising standards of living ?

Canberra !!

Employee Earnings and Household Incomes

Average weekly full-time adult ordinary time earnings in Canberra are approximately A$1,280 per week, which is 16 per cent higher than the Australian average. However, as noted earlier, output per capita of Canberra workers is 31 per cent above the national average.

Earnings and the high workforce participation rate are also reflected in disposable household income figures for Canberra. The gross household disposable income per capita at A$49,923 is around 61 per cent higher in Canberra than the national average.

Modern Telecommunications Infrastructure

The high quality of infrastructure serving Canberra provides many advantages to businesses. Canberra was one of the first cities in the world to introduce a broadband fibre-optic network, and the ACT ranks alongside Singapore, Finland, Sweden and the USA as having one of the world’s most IT-connected communities.

Operating a Business in Canberra

There are more than 25,000 businesses in Canberra covering almost every conceivable form of activity and business structure. They range in size from multinationals that have strategically chosen Canberra so they can be close to the Australian Government’s A$200 billion procurement decisions, right down to micro businesses servicing larger businesses, the public sector or the needs of local people.

They range in size from multinationals that have strategically chosen Canberra so they can be close to the Australian Government’s A$200 billion procurement decisions, right down to micro businesses servicing larger businesses, the public sector or the needs of local people.

Workforce

Canberra’s workforce comprises approximately 200,000 people, made up of 190,000 residents and approximately 10,000 people who commute from nearby population centres in New South Wales. About 115,000 Canberrans are employed in the Territory’s private sector, with the balance employed in the public sector. [ 200,000 - 115,000 = 85,000 public servants !]

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The chief minister of the A.C.T provides the following factoids:

• the ACT record low unemployment rates - the ACT’s current unemployment rate of 2.7 per cent in May 2008 is well below the rate in any other jurisdiction;
• an average weekly wage in Canberra about $180 more than the national average.
• increased expenditure on health, which has almost doubled from 2001-02 to 2008-09;

Yes, Canberra, mafia headquarters, is where a lot of the stolen loot is handed out !