Bayswater Infrastructure Projects, WA

Bayswater combines a broad service economy with active transport work and steady housing approvals

Economic base

Bayswater has a diversified metropolitan economy rather than a single-resource base. In 2021, resident employment was spread across health care and social assistance at 13.6%, professional, scientific and technical services at 9.1%, education and training at 8.6%, retail trade at 8.5%, construction at 7.7%, accommodation and food services at 7.2%, and public administration and safety at 7.2%. Manufacturing accounted for 4.5%, mining 5.8%, and transport, postal and warehousing 4.7%. This mix combines household-facing services with industrial, logistics and knowledge-based activity.

The business base reinforces that breadth. In June 2025, Bayswater had 6,779 registered businesses and 2,298 employing businesses. Construction accounted for 1,151 registered businesses and 381 employing businesses; transport, postal and warehousing had 1,110 registered businesses; professional, scientific and technical services had 891; retail had 389; health care and social assistance had 429; and manufacturing had 284. Registered businesses are not workplace employment, but the pattern points to a substantial small-business and contracting economy alongside larger employing firms. The latest labour-market estimate recorded a labour force of 48,663 and an unemployment rate of 3.2% in 2026-Q1.

Project program

Transport work is under way in Bayswater. Transport is also work shared with other councils, so the council’s programme sits within a broader network of activity rather than operating as an isolated local programme. The programme is defined by active transport work and its connection to movement: transport work can support access between homes, employment areas, services and adjoining councils when the relevant links are delivered and maintained.

The wider construction signal is visible in approvals. Non-residential building work approved to proceed totalled $175.5m in the 12 months to 30 June 2026, or 1.51× the council’s own three-year average by value. Residential building work approved, including new homes, alterations and additions, totalled $146.9m in the 12 months to July 2026. These figures describe work approved to proceed and should be read separately from transport activity: approvals indicate building activity, while the transport programme describes infrastructure work by direction and kind.

Economic connections

The clearest connection between the economy and project work is freight and access. Bayswater has 1,110 registered businesses in transport, postal and warehousing, while transport, postal and warehousing represented 4.7% of resident employment in 2021. Active transport work, including work shared with other councils, aligns with the movement requirements of this business base and may improve access for workers, customers and goods. The relationship is functional rather than automatic: the economic effect depends on where connections are made, their capacity and their operating performance.

Building activity provides a second connection through construction demand and business capability. Construction represented 7.7% of resident employment in 2021 and Bayswater had 1,151 registered construction businesses and 381 employing construction businesses in June 2025. Non-residential approvals of $175.5m and a 1.51× relationship with the council’s own three-year average indicate a strong period of approved building work. That activity supports a setting in which local contractors and related services may participate, although approvals do not measure completed work or local output. Health care, education and social assistance also account for substantial employment, making access and service capacity relevant to the council’s wider economic functioning.

Outlook

Population growth is an important operating context. Estimated resident population was 77,383 in 2025, up by 1,112 people or 1.5%. Natural increase contributed 416 people and net overseas migration contributed 1,396, while net internal migration was -700. This pattern is consistent with continuing demand for housing, transport and everyday services, but the sources of growth matter: overseas migration and natural increase are offsetting an outward internal-migration balance. Service capacity includes 31 approved centre-based childcare services and 1,854 approved childcare places at 30 September 2026, plus 11 residential aged care homes and 692 places at 30 June 2025.

Housing delivery is the central watch point. In the 12 months to July 2026, 269 dwellings were approved, comprising 213 new houses and 56 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings. The approval rate was 3.5 dwellings per 1,000 residents and 1.01× the council’s own three-year average. The state target requires 404 homes a year, and the latest twelve-month approval pace was 67% of that yearly requirement. This places approvals close to the council’s recent average but below the target pace. Alongside the $146.9m of residential building work approved, the figures point to continued activity while making the mix and pace of housing an important indicator.

For council and planning staff

For service planning, the housing target is 404 homes a year, while the 12 months to July 2026 delivered an approval pace equal to 67% of that yearly requirement. The same period recorded 269 approved dwellings, or 3.5 per 1,000 residents. Population was 77,383 in 2025, rising by 1,112 people or 1.5%; natural increase contributed 416 and net overseas migration 1,396, partly offset by net internal migration of -700. Service capacity included 31 approved centre-based childcare services and 1,854 places at 30 September 2026, plus 11 residential aged care homes and 692 places at 30 June 2025.

For buyers’ agents and investors

The 2021 household profile combines an average household size of 2.3 with a median age of 38. Tenure was 36% owned with a mortgage, 29.5% owned outright and 31.9% rented. In the same Census, 44.5% had lived at a different address five years earlier. Median weekly personal income was $869 and median weekly household income was $1,739. The labour market recorded 48,663 people in the labour force and an unemployment rate of 3.2% in 2026-Q1. The latest twelve-month approvals comprised 213 houses and 56 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings.

For builders and developers

In the 12 months to July 2026, 269 dwellings were approved: 213 houses and 56 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings. Their value of residential building work approved was $146.9m, and approvals were 1.01× the council’s own three-year average. Non-residential building work approved in the 12 months to 30 June 2026 was $175.5m, equal to 1.51× that own three-year average. In June 2025, Bayswater had 1,151 registered construction businesses and 381 employing construction businesses; construction represented 7.7% of resident employment in 2021.

Key takeaways

• Bayswater has a broad service, industrial and small-business economy, with health care, professional services, education, retail, construction and transport all material to resident employment or business activity.
• Transport work is under way and is shared with other councils, aligning with a substantial transport and logistics business base and the need for reliable access.
• Housing approvals were close to the council’s own recent average at 1.01×, but the 67% pace against the state target was below the required 404 homes a year.

Sources

• Health care and social assistance — ABS Census 2021
• Professional, scientific and technical services — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Unemployment rate — Small Area Labour Markets
• Education and training — ABS Census 2021
• Retail trade — ABS Census 2021
• Construction — ABS Census 2021
• Accommodation and food services — ABS Census 2021
• Public administration and safety — ABS Census 2021
• Manufacturing — ABS Census 2021
• Mining — 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, Transport, Postal and Warehousing — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Retail Trade — 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
• Labour force — 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
• Net overseas migration — ABS Regional Population
• Approved childcare places — ACECQA national register
• Residential aged care places — AIHW GEN aged care
• Dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Dwellings approved in the latest 12 months against the yearly pace the housing target needs (100% is on pace) — Perth and Peel @3.5million
• Population change — ABS Regional Population
• Population change — ABS Regional Population
• Natural increase — ABS Regional Population
• Net internal migration — ABS Regional Population
• Approved centre-based childcare services — ACECQA national register
• Residential aged care homes — AIHW GEN aged care
• 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
• Target: 15,750 additional dwellings, 2011 to 2050, infill 15,750 (404 a year) — Perth and Peel @3.5million
• Average household size — ABS Census 2021
• Rented — ABS Census 2021
• Median age — ABS Census 2021
• Owned with a mortgage — ABS Census 2021
• Owned outright — ABS Census 2021
• Lived at a different address 5 years ago — ABS Census 2021
• Median personal income (weekly) — ABS Census 2021
• Median household income (weekly) — ABS Census 2021