East Fremantle Infrastructure Projects, WA

East Fremantle is a service-led inner metropolitan economy where housing approvals are concentrated in detached homes.

Economic base

East Fremantle is a small, service-led inner metropolitan economy rather than a resource or production centre. In the 2021 Census, health care and social assistance accounted for 16.7% of employed residents, education and training 12.2%, professional, scientific and technical services 11.7%, retail trade 7% and public administration and safety 6%. Construction and mining each accounted for 6.4%. This profile combines household-facing services with knowledge-intensive and public-sector work. Manufacturing represented 3.8%, while transport, postal and warehousing represented 2.7%. The industry pattern points to an economy closely linked to services, local consumption, care provision and professional work.

The business base reinforces that character. In June 2025, East Fremantle had 938 registered businesses, including 182 in professional, scientific and technical services, 134 in health care and social assistance, 128 in rental, hiring and real estate services, and 107 in construction. Of the total, 311 were employing businesses; construction had 48 employing businesses, health care and social assistance 40, and professional services 59. These counts describe business presence rather than workplace employment. They indicate a broad small-business structure, with professional services, care services and construction providing distinct connections between the resident population and the local commercial base.

Project program

Building approvals provide the clearest current measure of development activity. Non-residential building work approved to proceed totalled $160k in the 12 months to 30 June 2026. Its value was 1.00× the council’s own weighted three-year average, placing the latest period at that established local benchmark. This measure covers approved building work and gives a point-in-time indication of commercial and community building activity.

Residential approvals were more substantial in count. Fourteen dwellings were approved in the 12 months to July 2026, comprising 14 new houses and 0 townhouses, apartments or other dwellings. Residential building work approved, including new homes, alterations and additions, was valued at $27.1m. The state target requires 23 additional dwellings a year, so the latest approval pace was below the yearly pace required by that target. The composition indicates that recent approved housing activity has been concentrated in detached homes, with limited contribution from other dwelling forms.

Economic connections

The clearest connection between current building activity and the local economy runs through construction and related services. Construction represented 6.4% of employed residents in 2021, and 107 registered construction businesses included 48 employing businesses in June 2025. Residential building work approved in the latest 12-month period therefore sits alongside an established local construction business base. Approvals can support work through design, trades, materials and related professional services. The connection is an activity channel rather than a measure of local output: approval value records authorised work, while business counts record enterprises and not the employment generated by a particular approval.

Service capacity is a second direct connection. Health care and social assistance was the largest recorded employment industry at 16.7% of employed residents, while education and training accounted for 12.2%. At 30 September 2026, East Fremantle had 2 approved centre-based childcare services and 90 approved childcare places. At 30 June 2025, residential aged care comprised 2 homes and 141 places. These services support care, education and household participation, and their scale is relevant to an economy in which health, education and related services are prominent. Capacity in these areas may shape how population change is absorbed and how local service work is delivered.

Outlook

East Fremantle’s near-term direction is shaped by a stable but slowly changing population and housing activity below the yearly pace required by the state target. Estimated resident population was 8,426 in 2025, increasing by 22 people or 0.3%. Net overseas migration contributed 121 people, while natural increase was -11 and net internal migration was -88. This combination means that overseas migration supported the population increase while the other measured components reduced it. The result is a modest population change against a service-led economic base and a housing approval pattern centred on detached homes.

The main indicators to monitor are dwelling approvals and their composition, non-residential approval value, population components and labour-market conditions. The labour force was 4,969 people in 2026-Q1, with 108 unemployed people and an unemployment rate of 2.2%. Together with the 1.00× non-residential approvals ratio, these measures describe current participation, joblessness and building activity at the council’s own recent benchmark. Changes in the balance between houses and other dwellings will show whether the form of approved housing is broadening. Population components will also indicate whether future change continues to depend mainly on overseas migration or becomes more balanced.

For council and planning staff

The state target is 23 additional dwellings a year. Fourteen dwellings were approved in the 12 months to July 2026, equal to 1.7 dwellings per 1,000 residents. Population was 8,426 in 2025 and rose by 22 people, or 0.3%; net overseas migration added 121, while natural increase was -11 and net internal migration was -88. Service capacity includes 2 approved centre-based childcare services and 90 approved childcare places at 30 September 2026. At 30 June 2025, residential aged care comprised 2 homes and 141 places. These measures place housing pace, population movement and care capacity in the same planning frame.

For buyers’ agents and investors

The 2021 housing and household profile was 40.9% owned outright, 34.9% owned with a mortgage and 22.4% rented. Average household size was 2.5 people and median age was 44. A total of 43.3% of residents lived at a different address five years earlier. Median personal income was $1,075 a week and median household income was $2,288 a week in 2021. Labour force participation was 65.1% in 2021; in 2026-Q1 the labour force was 4,969, with an unemployment rate of 2.2%. The latest approved dwelling mix was 14 houses and 0 other dwellings in the 12 months to July 2026, giving the local housing picture a predominantly detached form.

For builders and developers

In the 12 months to July 2026, 14 dwellings were approved: 14 houses and 0 townhouses, apartments or other dwellings. Residential building work approved, including new homes, alterations and additions, was $27.1m. Non-residential building work approved in the 12 months to 30 June 2026 was $160k, equal to 1.00× the council’s own weighted three-year average. The construction business base in June 2025 comprised 107 registered businesses, including 48 employing businesses. Construction accounted for 6.4% of employed residents in the 2021 Census. These measures place residential and non-residential approvals alongside the local construction presence while keeping business counts separate from construction employment.

Key takeaways

• East Fremantle’s economic base is service-led, with health care, education and professional services prominent among employed residents and registered businesses.
• Fourteen dwellings were approved in the 12 months to July 2026, all houses, against a state target requiring 23 additional dwellings a year.
• Population growth was modest in 2025, with overseas migration offsetting negative natural increase and internal migration; the unemployment rate was 2.2% in 2026-Q1.

Sources

• Health care and social assistance — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Education and training — ABS Census 2021
• Professional, scientific and technical services — ABS Census 2021
• Retail trade — ABS Census 2021
• Public administration and safety — ABS Census 2021
• Construction — ABS Census 2021
• Mining — ABS Census 2021
• Manufacturing — ABS Census 2021
• Transport, postal and warehousing — ABS Census 2021
• Employing businesses — 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
• Registered businesses, Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Construction — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Employing businesses, Construction — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Employing businesses, Health Care and Social Assistance — 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
• Dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Target: 890 additional dwellings, 2011 to 2050, infill 890 (23 a year) — Perth and Peel @3.5million
• Non-residential building approvals versus this council's own three-year average, weighted by the value of those approvals — 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
• Approved centre-based childcare services — ACECQA national register
• Residential aged care places — AIHW GEN aged care
• Approved childcare places — ACECQA national register
• Residential aged care homes — AIHW GEN aged care
• 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
• Owned outright — ABS Census 2021
• Median personal income (weekly) — ABS Census 2021
• Owned with a mortgage — ABS Census 2021
• Rented — 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
• Labour force participation rate — ABS Census 2021