Fremantle Infrastructure Projects, WA

Fremantle combines a diverse inner-urban economy with transport-led project activity

Economic base

Fremantle’s economy is primarily urban, service-based and institutionally diverse, with manufacturing, retail, hospitality, professional services, health care and education all contributing to resident employment. In the 2021 Census, health care and social assistance accounted for 15.7% of employed residents, education and training 12.5%, professional, scientific and technical services 11.3%, accommodation and food services 7.4%, construction 6.8%, retail trade 6.2%, and public administration and safety 6.2%. Manufacturing accounted for 4.4% and transport, postal and warehousing 3.3%. This mix gives the local economy several employment channels rather than a single dominant industry. The resident population was 37,542 in 2025.

The business base reinforces that breadth. In June 2025, Fremantle recorded 5,226 registered businesses and 2,039 employing businesses. Professional, scientific and technical services recorded 950 registered businesses and 424 employing businesses; construction recorded 559 and 227 respectively; health care and social assistance recorded 489 and 156. Retail recorded 334 registered businesses and 195 employing businesses, while accommodation and food services recorded 248 and 184. These are business counts, not job counts, but they indicate a substantial network of specialist, consumer-facing and contracting activity. The labour force was 21,718 in 2026-Q1, with 999 unemployed people and an unemployment rate of 4.6%.

Project program

The council’s project work is concentrated in transport. Transport work is under way, and further transport work is proposed; the largest active or proposed work is described as large-scale. The direction is therefore continuity in one infrastructure function, with activity spanning delivery and planning rather than a completed-work cycle. This pattern is distinct from the economy’s broader industry mix: it identifies the main public project activity, not the scale of local economic output.

Building approvals provide a separate measure of construction activity. Non-residential building work approved to proceed was $112.9m in the 12 months to June 2026, equivalent to 0.88× the council’s own weighted three-year average. Residential building work approved, including new homes, alterations and additions, was $217.1m in the 12 months to July 2026. The approvals figures describe work approved to proceed, while transport work describes the direction and status of the council’s broader project programme.

Economic connections

Transport work aligns with Fremantle’s employment structure because transport, postal and warehousing already accounted for 3.3% of employed residents in 2021, while manufacturing accounted for 4.4% and wholesale trade 1.8%. Transport infrastructure may improve access for movement of people and goods and support connections between industrial, commercial and employment areas. The relationship is functional rather than determinative: the project pattern identifies transport as a public infrastructure focus, while the Census describes where residents worked. The figures describe the infrastructure focus and employment pattern without measuring an employment outcome from the work.

Population change increases the importance of service capacity and construction activity. The population rose by 963 people, or 2.6%, in 2025. Net overseas migration contributed 620 people, net internal migration 289, and natural increase 54. At the same time, health care and social assistance and education and training were major sources of resident employment. Current service capacity includes 1 open public and private hospital, 28 approved centre-based childcare services with 1,692 places, and 5 residential aged care homes with 626 places. Residential approvals may add building activity and dwellings, while transport work could improve access to employment and services; these are supported connections, not measured outcomes.

Outlook

The immediate outlook combines population growth, a diverse service economy and a transport-focused project programme. The state housing target requires 180 additional homes a year, and approvals in the 12 months to July 2026 were at 112% of that yearly pace. The same period recorded 202 dwellings approved, comprising 71 houses and 131 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings. This supports a pattern of infill-oriented residential activity, while the 0.84× ratio against the council’s own three-year average places current dwelling approvals below that local benchmark.

The main indicators to follow are the mix of transport work, approvals for non-residential and residential building, population change, and labour-market conditions. Non-residential approvals were $112.9m and 0.88× the council’s own weighted three-year average in the 12 months to June 2026. The labour force recorded 999 unemployed people and a 4.6% unemployment rate in 2026-Q1. Together, these measures will show whether construction activity, service demand and transport delivery are moving in the same direction or developing at different speeds.

For council and planning staff

The state target is 180 additional homes a year, and approvals were running at 112% of the yearly pace required in the 12 months to July 2026. That pace sits alongside population growth of 963 people, or 2.6%, in 2025. Net overseas migration contributed 620 people, net internal migration 289 and natural increase 54. Service capacity includes 1 open public and private hospital, 28 approved centre-based childcare services with 1,692 places, and 5 residential aged care homes with 626 places. These figures place housing delivery, population change and service capacity in the same planning frame.

For buyers’ agents and investors

The 2021 Census recorded a mixed tenure profile: 32.8% of occupied private dwellings were owned outright, 32.6% were owned with a mortgage and 31.7% were rented. Average household size was 2.2 persons and median age was 42. The area also had substantial residential movement, with 47.7% of people living at a different address five years earlier. Median household income was $1,887 a week and median personal income was $969 a week. In the labour market, the participation rate was 63.6% in 2021, while the 2026-Q1 unemployment rate was 4.6%.

For builders and developers

In the 12 months to July 2026, 202 dwellings were approved: 71 houses and 131 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings. The approvals rate was 5.4 dwellings per 1,000 residents, and total dwelling approvals were 0.84× the council’s own three-year average. The value of residential building work approved was $217.1m. Non-residential building work approved to proceed was $112.9m in the 12 months to June 2026, or 0.88× the council’s own weighted three-year average. Construction recorded 559 registered businesses and 227 employing businesses in June 2025, while construction accounted for 6.8% of employed residents in the 2021 Census.

Key takeaways

• Fremantle has a broad urban service economy, with health care, education, professional services, manufacturing, retail, hospitality and construction all material to resident employment and business activity.
• Transport is the central direction of active and proposed project work, with the largest active or proposed work described as large-scale.
• Population grew by 2.6% in 2025, while housing approvals reached 112% of the yearly pace required by the state target; non-residential approvals were $112.9m in the 12 months to June 2026.

Sources

• Health care and social assistance — ABS Census 2021
• Education and training — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Unemployment rate — Small Area Labour Markets
• Professional, scientific and technical services — ABS Census 2021
• Accommodation and food services — ABS Census 2021
• Construction — ABS Census 2021
• Retail trade — ABS Census 2021
• Public administration and safety — ABS Census 2021
• Manufacturing — ABS Census 2021
• Transport, postal and warehousing — ABS Census 2021
• Estimated resident population — ABS Regional Population
• Employing businesses — 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
• Registered businesses, Construction — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Employing businesses, Construction — 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, Retail Trade — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Employing businesses, Retail Trade — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Accommodation and Food Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Employing businesses, Accommodation and Food Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Labour force — Small Area Labour Markets
• Unemployed persons — Small Area Labour Markets
• Non-residential building approvals, 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
• Population change — ABS Regional Population
• Open public and private hospitals — AIHW MyHospitals
• Wholesale trade — ABS Census 2021
• Population change — ABS Regional Population
• Net overseas migration — ABS Regional Population
• Net internal migration — ABS Regional Population
• Natural increase — ABS Regional Population
• 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
• Dwellings approved in the latest 12 months against the yearly pace the housing target needs (100% is on pace) — Perth and Peel @3.5million
• Dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Target: 7,030 additional dwellings, 2011 to 2050, infill 7,030 (180 a year) — Perth and Peel @3.5million
• New houses approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Townhouses, apartments and other dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Dwellings approved versus this council's own three-year average — ABS Building Approvals
• Rented — ABS Census 2021
• Average household size — ABS Census 2021
• Lived at a different address 5 years ago — ABS Census 2021
• Owned outright — ABS Census 2021
• Owned with a mortgage — ABS Census 2021
• Median age — ABS Census 2021
• Median household income (weekly) — ABS Census 2021
• Median personal income (weekly) — ABS Census 2021
• Labour force participation rate — ABS Census 2021
• Dwellings approved per 1,000 residents, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals