Tweed Infrastructure Projects, NSW

Tweed combines a large service economy with sustained housing and infrastructure activity

Economic base

Tweed’s economic character is service-led, with health care and social assistance the largest identified employment industry at 17.4% of employed residents in 2021. Construction accounted for 11.8%, retail trade 10.3%, accommodation and food services 9.5%, and education and training 9.3%. Manufacturing contributed 4.3%, while transport, postal and warehousing contributed 3.3%. This mix combines population-serving services with construction, visitor-related activity and a moderate production base. It gives the local economy several linked sources of work, including care, consumption, building, education, hospitality and logistics.

The business structure reinforces that profile. In June 2025, Tweed had 9,126 registered businesses and 3,543 employing businesses. Construction was a major business category, with 2,094 registered businesses and 886 employing businesses. Professional, scientific and technical services recorded 1,129 registered businesses and 460 employing businesses, while health care and social assistance recorded 771 and 284 respectively. Retail, accommodation and food services also provide a substantial operating base, with 624 and 371 registered businesses respectively. Registered businesses and employing businesses describe different parts of the commercial base, together indicating both small operators and firms with employees.

Project program

The most material pattern in council project work is a broad active program across transport, schools, industrial activity, retail and tourism. Proposed work shifts the forward direction towards water, health, industrial and transport activity. Completed work includes schools, health, transport, retail and tourism. The mix therefore combines continuing public and visitor infrastructure activity with proposed water and health work, alongside industrial and transport work that is both active and proposed. This gives the program a spread across access, community services, production and visitor functions.

Industrial, health and water work are the largest kinds of active or proposed work, and the largest priced work is at a mid-sized scale. Transport appears in both active and proposed work, while school, retail and tourism work is active or completed. This pattern describes a program with several enabling functions: transport access, water security, industrial capacity, health capacity and visitor infrastructure. Those functions sit alongside the construction activity already visible in local employment and business measures. The direction of work is therefore mixed: some activity is under way or finished, while the forward emphasis includes essential services and productive capacity.

Economic connections

Transport work aligns with the needs of a dispersed service economy by supporting access for workers, customers, freight and visitors. The connection is relevant to Tweed’s existing industry mix: transport, postal and warehousing represented 3.3% of employed residents in 2021, while retail and accommodation and food services represented 10.3% and 9.5%. Proposed water work could support water security for households, services and industrial activity, while proposed industrial work may improve the conditions for production and distribution. These mechanisms connect physical access and essential infrastructure with the sectors that serve local residents and visitors.

Health work aligns with an economy where health care and social assistance is the largest identified employment industry, and may add capacity as the resident population grows. Tweed had 3 open public and private hospitals, including 2 public hospitals, at the current period. School work and childcare capacity support the participation of households with children, while construction work provides a local delivery base: construction employed 11.8% of residents in 2021 and had 886 employing businesses in June 2025. These relationships describe potential capacity links between project activity, services and delivery businesses; they do not measure outcomes from individual work.

Outlook

Population and construction indicators point to continuing demand for housing and services. Estimated resident population was 101,044 in 2025, up by 716 people or 0.7%. Natural increase was -131, while net internal migration was 427 and net overseas migration was 420. Residential building work approved in the 12 months to July 2026 was $368.6m, and dwellings approved were 1.33× the council’s own three-year average. Non-residential building approvals were $108.7m in the 12 months to June 2026, or 1.02× that average. Together, these measures place population change beside approved residential and non-residential activity.

The forward question is whether the composition and timing of work remain aligned with population-serving capacity. Housing approvals, lodged applications and non-residential approvals provide separate signals of activity, while the project program points towards water, health, industrial and transport functions. Labour force conditions also matter for delivery and services: the labour force was 47,354 in 2026-Q1, with 1,613 unemployed people and an unemployment rate of 3.4%. The mix of active, proposed and completed work is therefore an important indicator alongside approvals and population change. Tracking these measures together can clarify whether activity is broadening across housing, services and enabling infrastructure.

For council and planning staff

Population reached 101,044 in 2025, increasing by 716 people or 0.7%. The change was associated with net internal migration of 427 and net overseas migration of 420, offset by natural increase of -131. Service capacity includes 3 open public and private hospitals, including 2 public hospitals; 52 approved centre-based childcare services with 3,338 places as at 2026-09-30; and 14 residential aged care homes with 1,349 places as at 2025-06-30. Housing approvals were 4.1 dwellings per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to July 2026. Together, these figures describe the scale and sources of demand that services must accommodate.

For buyers’ agents and investors

Occupied dwelling tenure in 2021 comprised 41.5% owned outright, 30.2% owned with a mortgage and 24.3% rented. Average household size was 2.4 people and median age was 47. A relatively mobile population is indicated by 44.5% having lived at a different address five years earlier. Median household income was $1,296 per week and median personal income was $658 per week in 2021. The labour force was 47,354 in 2026-Q1, with 1,613 unemployed people and an unemployment rate of 3.4%. The mix of new dwellings approved in the 12 months to July 2026 was 185 new houses and 226 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings, from 411 dwellings in total.

For builders and developers

In the 12 months to July 2026, 411 dwellings were approved: 185 houses and 226 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings. The total was 1.33× the council’s own three-year average, and residential building work approved was $368.6m. Homes in development applications lodged in the period to 2026-09-19 totalled 767. These measures describe approvals and lodgements at different points in the development process. Construction had 2,094 registered businesses and 886 employing businesses in June 2025. Construction employed 11.8% of residents in 2021. Non-residential building work approved in the 12 months to June 2026 was $108.7m, equal to 1.02× the council’s own three-year average. This combination places residential approvals alongside a sizeable local construction business base and continuing non-residential approval activity.

Key takeaways

• Tweed’s economy is led by health care, construction, retail, accommodation and food services, supported by 9,126 registered businesses and 3,543 employing businesses in June 2025.
• Project work combines active transport, school, industrial, retail and tourism activity with proposed water, health, industrial and transport work at a mid-sized scale.
• Population increased by 716 people or 0.7% in 2025, while housing and non-residential approvals were above the council’s own three-year averages at 1.33× and 1.02× respectively.

Sources

• Health care and social assistance — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Construction — ABS Census 2021
• Retail trade — ABS Census 2021
• Accommodation and food services — ABS Census 2021
• Education and training — ABS Census 2021
• Manufacturing — ABS Census 2021
• Transport, postal and warehousing — ABS Census 2021
• Employing businesses — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Construction — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Employing businesses, Construction — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Employing businesses, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Health Care and Social Assistance — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Employing businesses, Health Care and Social Assistance — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Retail Trade — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Accommodation and Food Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Open public and private hospitals — AIHW MyHospitals
• Public hospitals — AIHW MyHospitals
• Estimated resident population — ABS Regional Population
• Dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Population change — ABS Regional Population
• Population change — ABS Regional Population
• Natural increase — ABS Regional Population
• Net internal migration — ABS Regional Population
• Net overseas migration — ABS Regional Population
• Value of residential building work approved (new homes, alterations and additions), latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Dwellings approved versus this council's own three-year average — ABS Building Approvals
• Non-residential building approvals, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Non-residential building approvals versus this council's own three-year average, weighted by the value of those approvals — ABS Building Approvals
• Homes in development applications lodged, latest 12 months — NSW Planning Portal
• Labour force — Small Area Labour Markets
• Unemployed persons — Small Area Labour Markets
• Unemployment rate — Small Area Labour Markets
• Approved childcare places — ACECQA national register
• Residential aged care places — AIHW GEN aged care
• Dwellings approved per 1,000 residents, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Approved centre-based childcare services — ACECQA national register
• Residential aged care homes — AIHW GEN aged care
• Rented — ABS Census 2021
• Average household size — ABS Census 2021
• Owned outright — ABS Census 2021
• Owned with a mortgage — ABS Census 2021
• Median age — ABS Census 2021
• Lived at a different address 5 years ago — ABS Census 2021
• Median household income (weekly) — ABS Census 2021
• Median personal income (weekly) — ABS Census 2021
• New houses approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Townhouses, apartments and other dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals