Ararat Infrastructure Projects, VIC

Ararat combines an agricultural and manufacturing base with strong health, public administration and transport activity

Economic base

Ararat has a mixed regional economy with a substantial primary-industry base and important service and production roles. In 2021, agriculture, forestry and fishing accounted for 15.4% of employed residents, manufacturing 11.5%, health care and social assistance 16.5%, and public administration and safety 10.4%. Retail trade accounted for 7.2%, education and training 6.6%, construction 5.4%, and accommodation and food services 5.9%. This combination gives the local economy several operating centres: farm and resource-linked activity, production, essential services, government functions and consumer-facing businesses. It also means activity is spread across industries with different links to freight, public services, household demand and regional access.

The business base is similarly varied. In June 2025, Ararat had 444 registered agriculture, forestry and fishing businesses, 124 construction businesses, 146 rental, hiring and real estate businesses, 56 retail businesses, 56 accommodation and food services businesses, 51 transport, postal and warehousing businesses, and 45 health care and social assistance businesses. Manufacturing included 23 registered businesses and electricity, gas, water and waste services 10. These are business counts, not workplace employment, but they indicate a broad local supplier and service network around the larger employed-resident industries. The 1,163 registered businesses and 427 employing businesses provide a wider measure of that base, spanning firms with and without employees.

Project program

The council’s project work is concentrated in transport. Transport work is under way, and completed transport work is also part of the local infrastructure record. The largest priced active or proposed work is smaller-scale transport work. Transport work is also shared with other councils, so the program has a cross-boundary element rather than being solely local in reach. The direction of activity is therefore continuity in transport: work under way alongside completed transport work, with no separate proposed category described here. This emphasis gives the program a clear access function, linking local roads and movement requirements with the needs of industries and services operating across a wider area.

Building approvals provide a separate measure of construction activity. In the 12 months to July 2026, 54 dwellings were approved, including 46 new houses and 8 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings. The residential building work approved was valued at $25.8m. Non-residential building work approved in the 12 months to 30 June 2026 was valued at $14.2m, equal to 0.99× the council’s own three-year average. Together, these measures describe work approved to proceed across housing and non-residential buildings, alongside the transport program. They also show that the built-environment program has both residential and non-residential components, with approvals providing a current indicator of construction activity rather than a measure of completed output.

Economic connections

Transport is the most direct connection between the project program and Ararat’s economic base. Agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale trade and transport businesses all depend on the movement of inputs and goods, while health, education, retail and accommodation services depend on reliable access for workers, patients, students, customers and visitors. Transport work under way therefore aligns with the operating needs of the industries that move goods or serve a wider catchment. Shared transport work may support connections across council boundaries, although the project record does not quantify changes in travel times, freight volumes or business output. The connection is strongest where local production, distribution and service use depend on routes that cross the council boundary.

Construction activity provides a second, more immediate link. Housing and non-residential building approvals generate work for the local construction network and can require materials, trades, transport and professional services. Ararat had 124 registered construction businesses and 56 employing construction businesses in June 2025; these counts describe firms rather than jobs. The approvals measures align with that business base, while transport work provides a related access mechanism. Neither project scale nor approval value should be read as local economic output, but together they identify activity relevant to suppliers, contractors and service businesses. This relationship extends beyond construction itself because approved building work can draw on retail, freight, accommodation and other local services during delivery.

Outlook

The near-term picture is one of steady local activity with a clear transport emphasis. Ararat’s diverse industry structure supports demand for movement, services and construction inputs, while the shared transport element links local activity with surrounding councils. The current mix is best read as an operating program supporting access and construction-related activity, not as a measure of total economic output. Its significance will depend on how transport work interacts with the council’s agricultural, manufacturing, health, government and retail roles. Completed work provides continuity, while work under way indicates that transport remains the immediate direction of council activity.

The main indicators to follow are population change, labour-market conditions, building approvals, business counts and the composition of project work. These measures can reveal whether service demand, construction activity and transport requirements are changing together. A sustained shift in the mix of work toward additional infrastructure types would alter the council’s connection profile; for now, transport remains the defining project direction. The broad business base gives Ararat several channels through which changes in access, household demand or public services may be absorbed. Reading the indicators together is important because population movement can affect services, labour conditions can affect delivery capacity, and approvals can change the near-term workload for construction-related businesses.

For council and planning staff

The housing target is 36 homes a year for July 2026, within a target of 1,000 net new dwellings from 2023 to 2051. The latest approvals pace is 54 dwellings in the 12 months to July 2026, or 4.6 dwellings approved per 1,000 residents. Ararat’s estimated resident population was 11,732 in 2025, up by 107 people or 0.9%. The change comprised natural increase of -34, net internal migration of 78 and net overseas migration of 63. Service capacity includes 2 open public and private hospitals, both public, current; 12 approved centre-based childcare services and 513 approved childcare places at 30 September 2026; and 4 residential aged care homes with 141 places at 30 June 2025.

For buyers’ agents and investors

Households in Ararat had an average size of 2.2 persons and a median age of 46 in 2021. Tenure was split between 44.2% owned outright, 28.7% owned with a mortgage and 21.6% rented. Residential movement was material: 35.7% of residents lived at a different address five years earlier. These figures describe a settled base alongside regular movement between addresses and a sizeable rented and mortgaged population. Median weekly household income was $1,252 and median weekly personal income was $685 in 2021. The labour force was 5,395 people in 2026-Q1, with 120 unemployed and an unemployment rate of 2.2%. The approved dwelling mix, recorded separately, includes houses as well as townhouses, apartments and other dwellings.

For builders and developers

In the 12 months to July 2026, 54 dwellings were approved: 46 houses and 8 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings. The approvals measure was 0.88× the council’s own three-year average, and residential building work approved was valued at $25.8m. This gives a direct view of approved residential work and its mix, with houses forming the larger component. The construction base comprised 124 registered construction businesses and 56 employing construction businesses in June 2025, while construction accounted for 5.4% of employed residents in 2021. Non-residential building work approved in the 12 months to 30 June 2026 was valued at $14.2m and measured 0.99× the council’s own three-year average. Together, the residential and non-residential measures describe the current composition of approved building work.

Key takeaways

• Ararat’s economic base combines agriculture, manufacturing, health care, public administration, retail and local services, with agriculture, forestry and fishing accounting for 15.4% of employed residents and health care and social assistance 16.5% in 2021.
• Transport is the defining direction of project work: transport work is under way, completed transport work forms part of the record, and shared transport work reaches other councils.
• Ararat had 1,163 registered businesses and 427 employing businesses in June 2025, providing a broad business base around production, primary industry, construction, transport, retail, accommodation and services.

Sources

• Agriculture, forestry and fishing — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Manufacturing — ABS Census 2021
• Health care and social assistance — ABS Census 2021
• Public administration and safety — ABS Census 2021
• Retail trade — ABS Census 2021
• Education and training — ABS Census 2021
• Construction — ABS Census 2021
• Accommodation and food services — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Construction — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services — 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
• Registered businesses, Transport, Postal and Warehousing — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Health Care and Social Assistance — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Manufacturing — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Employing businesses — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Non-residential building approvals, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• New houses approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Townhouses, apartments and other dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Value of residential building work approved (new homes, alterations and additions), 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
• Transport, postal and warehousing — ABS Census 2021
• Employing businesses, Construction — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Estimated resident population — ABS Regional Population
• Unemployment rate — Small Area Labour Markets
• Target: 1,000 net new dwellings from 2023 to 2051 (36 a year) — Plan for Victoria
• Open public and private hospitals — AIHW MyHospitals
• Approved centre-based childcare services — ACECQA national register
• Residential aged care homes — AIHW GEN aged care
• Dwellings approved per 1,000 residents, 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
• Public hospitals — AIHW MyHospitals
• Approved childcare places — ACECQA national register
• Residential aged care places — AIHW GEN aged care
• Average household size — ABS Census 2021
• Owned outright — ABS Census 2021
• Median age — ABS Census 2021
• Owned with a mortgage — ABS Census 2021
• Rented — 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 — Small Area Labour Markets
• Unemployed persons — Small Area Labour Markets
• Dwellings approved versus this council's own three-year average — ABS Building Approvals