Livingstone Infrastructure Projects, QLD

Livingstone combines resource, service and construction activity with transport, water and industrial work under way.

Economic base

Livingstone has a broad service, construction and resource economy rather than a single-industry base. In the 2021 Census, health care and social assistance accounted for 13.3% of employed residents, education and training 10.9%, construction 10.5%, mining 9.8%, retail trade 8.5% and accommodation and food services 7.2%. Agriculture, forestry and fishing employed 3.3%, while manufacturing accounted for 3.6%. This mix links community services and consumption with resource, building and visitor-related activity. It also means local conditions are shaped by several types of demand: household services, construction, production and visitor spending.

The business structure reinforces that breadth. In June 2025, Livingstone recorded 3,503 registered businesses, including 839 in construction, 574 in agriculture, forestry and fishing, 343 in rental, hiring and real estate services, 309 in other services, 270 in professional, scientific and technical services, and 211 in health care and social assistance. Of the total, 1,461 were employing businesses. The labour force was 22,389 in 2026-Q1, with 450 unemployed people and a 2% unemployment rate. Construction is therefore both a major business group and a substantial employment activity, while the wider base includes services that support households, farms and industry.

Project program

The most material project pattern is active transport, industrial and water work. Transport, water and industrial activity are also the largest kinds of active or proposed work by stated scale, which is mid-sized. Completed work has included transport, health, sport and tourism. The direction is therefore from completed community, visitor and transport work towards an active program centred on movement, industrial capacity and water services. Transport work is shared with other councils, so part of that activity has a wider regional reach. Together, these directions connect public works with access, essential services and productive land uses.

Building approvals add a current measure of construction activity. Non-residential building work approved to proceed totalled $72.3m in the 12 months to June 2026, at 1.35× the council’s own three-year average. Residential building work approved, including new homes, alterations and additions, totalled $180.7m in the 12 months to July 2026. These approvals describe work authorised during the periods, while the active and completed project categories describe different directions of public and private activity. Read together, they place construction activity alongside the council’s broader transport, industrial, water, health, sport and tourism work.

Economic connections

Transport activity aligns with an economy that includes 147 registered transport, postal and warehousing businesses and 3.7% of employed residents in that industry. Industrial activity sits alongside 114 registered manufacturing businesses and a 9.8% mining employment share. These relationships support a reading of transport and industrial work as relevant to freight access and production capacity. Better movement connections could assist the circulation of inputs, goods and workers between businesses, although project activity and registered business numbers describe capacity and participation rather than local output.

Water activity aligns with the utility needs of a growing population and a substantial agriculture base. Livingstone’s estimated resident population was 43,668 in 2025, up by 894 people or 2.1%; net internal migration contributed 748 people, compared with natural increase of 45 and net overseas migration of 101. Agriculture, forestry and fishing included 574 registered businesses, while electricity, gas, water and waste services included 17. On this basis, water work may add service capacity for households, agriculture and industry. Its relevance spans domestic demand, farm operations and industrial uses, with the population and business figures providing the surrounding context.

Outlook

Livingstone’s immediate outlook combines population growth, construction activity and a relatively tight current labour market. The population increase was driven mainly by internal migration, while the 2026-Q1 unemployment rate was 2%. Construction is an important local capability: it represented 10.5% of employed residents in 2021, and 839 registered construction businesses were recorded in June 2025, including 435 employing businesses. This combination may support delivery capacity, while also making labour availability an important operating condition for building and infrastructure work. The position bears watching as population demand and authorised work develop together.

The principal watch is whether the mix of work and approvals continues to match service and housing needs. Dwellings approved totalled 302 in the 12 months to July 2026, including 246 houses and 56 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings; the rate was 6.9 dwellings per 1,000 residents and 1.02× the council’s own three-year average. Service capacity included 1 public hospital, 15 approved centre-based childcare services with 1,260 places, and 3 residential aged care homes with 252 places. These measures frame the relationship between household growth, construction activity and essential services, while the mix of project work indicates continued attention to movement, water and industrial capacity.

For council and planning staff

Population reached 43,668 in 2025, increasing by 894 people or 2.1%. Net internal migration contributed 748 people, compared with natural increase of 45 and net overseas migration of 101. Service capacity included 1 public hospital, 15 approved centre-based childcare services and 1,260 approved childcare places, plus 3 residential aged care homes with 252 places. These figures put household growth beside the main health, early-years and aged-care service settings, helping frame demand across different life stages.

For buyers’ agents and investors

The 2021 Census recorded an average household size of 2.5 and a median age of 43. Tenure comprised 36.9% owned outright, 37.4% owned with a mortgage and 21.4% rented. A total of 45.3% had lived at a different address five years earlier. Median weekly household income was $1,625 and median weekly personal income was $765. The labour force participation rate was 57.1%, while the 2026-Q1 labour force counted 22,389 people and unemployment was 2%. New dwelling approvals in the 12 months to July 2026 comprised 246 houses and 56 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings, within 302 approved dwellings. The mix shows a clear predominance of houses in the approved new-dwelling activity during that period.

For builders and developers

In the 12 months to July 2026, 302 dwellings were approved: 246 houses and 56 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings. Residential building work approved, including new homes, alterations and additions, was valued at $180.7m. The dwelling approval ratio was 1.02× the council’s own three-year average. Non-residential building work approved in the 12 months to June 2026 was $72.3m, with a ratio of 1.35× the council’s own three-year average. Construction recorded 839 registered businesses and 435 employing businesses in June 2025, while construction accounted for 10.5% of employed residents in the 2021 Census. The broader business base included 3,503 registered businesses and 1,461 employing businesses.

Key takeaways

• Livingstone’s economy combines health, education, construction, mining, retail and accommodation activity, supported by 3,503 registered businesses and 1,461 employing businesses.
• Active project work is concentrated in transport, industrial and water activity, with completed work spanning transport, health, sport and tourism; transport work is shared with other councils.
• Population increased by 894 people or 2.1% in 2025, while non-residential approvals reached $72.3m in the 12 months to June 2026 and dwelling approvals reached 302 in the 12 months to July 2026.

Sources

• Health care and social assistance — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Education and training — ABS Census 2021
• Construction — ABS Census 2021
• Mining — ABS Census 2021
• Retail trade — ABS Census 2021
• Accommodation and food services — ABS Census 2021
• Agriculture, forestry and fishing — ABS Census 2021
• Manufacturing — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses, Construction — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Other Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered 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 — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Labour force — Small Area Labour Markets
• Unemployed persons — Small Area Labour Markets
• Unemployment rate — Small Area Labour Markets
• 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
• Value of residential building work approved (new homes, alterations and additions), latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Estimated resident population — ABS Regional Population
• Registered businesses, Transport, Postal and Warehousing — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Transport, postal and warehousing — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses, Manufacturing — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Population change — ABS Regional Population
• Population change — ABS Regional Population
• Net internal migration — ABS Regional Population
• Natural increase — ABS Regional Population
• Net overseas migration — ABS Regional Population
• Registered businesses, Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Public hospitals — AIHW MyHospitals
• Employing businesses, Construction — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• New houses approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Townhouses, apartments and other dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Dwellings approved per 1,000 residents, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Dwellings approved versus this council's own three-year average — ABS Building Approvals
• Approved centre-based childcare services — ACECQA national register
• Approved childcare places — ACECQA national register
• Residential aged care homes — AIHW GEN aged care
• Residential aged care places — AIHW GEN aged care
• Rented — ABS Census 2021
• Average household size — ABS Census 2021
• Median age — ABS Census 2021
• Owned outright — ABS Census 2021
• Owned with a mortgage — 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
• Labour force participation rate — ABS Census 2021