Albany Infrastructure Projects, WA

Albany combines a broad service economy with transport activity and proposed energy and water work

Economic base

Albany has a broad regional-service economy rather than a single-industry base. Health care and social assistance accounts for 16.5% of employed residents, retail trade 11.3%, education and training 9.3%, construction 9.2%, agriculture, forestry and fishing 6.7%, public administration and safety 6.2%, and accommodation and food services 7.7%. Manufacturing contributes 5.1%, while transport, postal and warehousing contributes 3.7%. This mix combines essential services, household spending, primary production, construction and visitor-facing activity. It also gives transport and utility capacity relevance across several parts of the economy rather than one narrow production chain.

The business base reinforces that breadth. In June 2025, Albany had 3,773 registered businesses and 1,389 employing businesses. Construction had 691 registered businesses and 259 employing businesses; agriculture, forestry and fishing had 708 and 168 respectively; health care and social assistance had 250 and 98; and professional, scientific and technical services had 292 and 128. These measures describe business presence and employing businesses, while the Census describes residents' industries of employment. Together they indicate local depth across small operators, established employers, production activities and professional services. Registered businesses are not workplace employment, but the pattern shows a wide operating base supporting the regional centre's everyday functions.

Project program

The council's project work has a transport core: transport work is under way, and transport work has also been completed. Proposed work extends into energy and water. The largest active or proposed work is energy at a billion-dollar scale. Transport work is also shared with other councils, so part of the program has a cross-boundary dimension. The direction of activity is therefore from completed transport work and current transport work towards proposed energy and water work. This pattern places movement and access alongside future utility capacity as the main themes of the program, with different work at different stages.

Building approvals provide a separate measure of current construction activity. Non-residential building work approved to proceed over the latest 12 months was $68.3m, equal to 1.24× Albany's own weighted three-year average. Residential building work approved over the 12 months to July 2026 was $158.8m. These approvals sit alongside the project program: they describe work authorised to proceed, while the project categories describe the direction and scale of active, proposed and completed infrastructure work. Read together, they show a council where construction activity spans both private building approvals and broader transport, energy and water work, without treating approvals as a measure of infrastructure output.

Economic connections

Transport work aligns with Albany's role in a dispersed regional economy. Better transport capacity could improve movement for agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail and visitor services, while supporting access to health, education and public administration. Freight and access are the concrete mechanisms: agricultural and manufactured goods depend on reliable movement, businesses depend on connections with suppliers and customers, and households depend on routes to essential services. Shared transport activity adds a cross-boundary dimension because movement systems operate across council borders. The connection is functional rather than automatic; project work creates a physical platform for movement, while local benefit depends on use, timing and the businesses and households connected to it.

Proposed energy and water work aligns with industrial enablement and water security. It may add capacity for production, processing and essential services, particularly where reliable utilities constrain expansion or resilience. The link to Albany's economic base is clearest in manufacturing, agriculture, health care, education and other services that require dependable power and water. Non-residential approvals indicate current demand for building activity, while the service industries create ongoing requirements for suitable premises and infrastructure. These links support a reading of the program as access work and foundational utility work together. They do not convert the scale of project work into a measure of local output, but they identify channels through which infrastructure may support economic activity.

Outlook

Albany's near-term outlook combines population growth with service and infrastructure demand. Estimated resident population was 42,308 in 2025, and the increase was driven mainly by net internal migration and net overseas migration, with natural increase contributing only a small amount. This composition is relevant to housing, retail, health, education, transport and other everyday services because migration can change both the number and the mix of households using them. The broad employment base means population change can affect several industries at once, while the project program places transport, energy and water capacity within the same wider adjustment.

The labour market was active in 2026-Q1, with a labour force of 20,967, 587 unemployed people and an unemployment rate of 2.8%. This supports demand for workers across construction, health, education, retail, agriculture and visitor services, while also making workforce availability an important condition for future work. The outlook therefore turns on whether housing, utilities, transport and service capacity can expand in step with population and business activity as the project mix shifts towards proposed energy and water work. Building approvals, business conditions and the balance between active, proposed and completed work will help show how that adjustment is progressing.

For council and planning staff

Population growth and service capacity are central planning signals. Albany's population increased by 594 people, or 1.4%, in 2025, with 399 from net internal migration, 194 from net overseas migration and 1 from natural increase. Current service capacity includes 3 open public and private hospitals, including 1 public hospital; 15 approved centre-based childcare services with 854 places as at 2026-09-30; and 6 residential aged care homes with 407 places as at 2025-06-30. The housing pace measure is 6.7 dwellings approved per 1,000 residents for the 12 months to July 2026. It should be read alongside the council's target pace where that target is applied: 100% represents the yearly approval pace needed to meet the target.

For buyers’ agents and investors

Albany's 2021 housing and household profile combines established ownership with a substantial rental sector: 37.6% of occupied private dwellings were owned outright, 32.4% were owned with a mortgage and 25.8% were rented. Average household size was 2.4 persons and median age was 45. A relatively mobile population is also apparent, with 44% living at a different address five years earlier. The income and labour-market measures provide context for household demand. Median household income was $1,350 per week and median personal income was $710 in 2021. In 2026-Q1, the labour force was 20,967 and the unemployment rate was 2.8%. Approved new housing comprised 238 houses and 46 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings in the 12 months to July 2026.

For builders and developers

Work approved over the 12 months to July 2026 totalled 284 dwellings, comprising 238 houses and 46 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings. The total was 1.17× Albany's own three-year average, and the value of residential building work approved was $158.8m. This describes approvals to proceed and the composition of approved work; it can be read with the council's construction base of 691 registered construction businesses and 259 employing construction businesses in June 2025. Construction represented 9.2% of employed residents in the 2021 Census. Non-residential building work approved to proceed in the latest 12 months was $68.3m, equal to 1.24× the council's own weighted three-year average.

Key takeaways

• Albany's economy is diversified across health care, retail, education, construction, primary production, manufacturing and visitor services, supported by 3,773 registered businesses in June 2025.
• Transport work is under way, energy and water work is proposed, and the largest active or proposed work is energy at a billion-dollar scale.
• Population increased by 594 people or 1.4% in 2025, while the 2026-Q1 unemployment rate was 2.8%, linking service demand with a tight labour market.

Sources

• Health care and social assistance — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Retail trade — ABS Census 2021
• Education and training — ABS Census 2021
• Construction — ABS Census 2021
• Agriculture, forestry and fishing — ABS Census 2021
• Public administration and safety — ABS Census 2021
• Accommodation and food services — 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, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Employing businesses, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing — 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, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Employing businesses, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• 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
• Wholesale trade — ABS Census 2021
• Electricity, gas, water and waste services — ABS Census 2021
• Estimated resident population — ABS Regional Population
• Unemployment rate — Small Area Labour Markets
• 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
• Labour force — Small Area Labour Markets
• Unemployed persons — Small Area Labour Markets
• Dwellings approved per 1,000 residents, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Open public and private hospitals — AIHW MyHospitals
• Public hospitals — AIHW MyHospitals
• 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
• New houses approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Owned outright — ABS Census 2021
• Owned with a mortgage — ABS Census 2021
• Average household size — 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
• Townhouses, apartments and other dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Dwellings approved versus this council's own three-year average — ABS Building Approvals