Kent Infrastructure Projects, WA

Kent is an agriculture-led economy with a small, specialised business base and limited building activity.

Economic base

Kent’s economic character is strongly agricultural. Agriculture, forestry and fishing accounted for 64.3% of employed residents in the 2021 Census, while education and training accounted for 8.1%, public administration and safety 6.6%, health care and social assistance 4.7%, and transport, postal and warehousing 3.9%. The council had 134 registered businesses in June 2025, including 92 in agriculture, forestry and fishing. Forty businesses employed staff. This combination points to a small business base centred on primary production, with supporting public, education, transport and service activity. The business structure gives agriculture a central role in local commercial activity as well as employment.

The population base was 539 in 2025 and increased by 10 people, or 1.9%, during the year. Natural increase contributed 7 people, net internal migration contributed 1 and net overseas migration contributed 2. The labour force was 301 people in 2026-Q1, with 6 unemployed people and an unemployment rate of 2%. These figures describe a small labour market closely connected to the resident and agricultural base. The combination of gradual population change and a low unemployment rate makes workforce availability a relevant condition for farms, transport operators and local services. Registered businesses should be read as business entities, not as a count of workplace jobs.

Project program

The council’s recorded project work is directed towards transport, and that work is completed. Transport work is also shared with other councils, so the program has a regional connection through access infrastructure rather than a locally concentrated schedule of active or proposed construction. This direction aligns with an agricultural economy in which the movement of inputs and produce depends on reliable road access. It also sits alongside transport, postal and warehousing employment, which formed part of the local employment structure in the 2021 Census. The connection is therefore primarily about access and movement across the regional economy.

Building approvals provide the current signal of local construction activity. In the 12 months to July 2026, 3 dwellings were approved, all 3 were new houses, and townhouses, apartments and other dwellings accounted for 0 approvals. Residential building work approved in that period was valued at $1.5m. Non-residential building work approved to proceed was $0 in the 12 months to June 2026. Together, these measures point to residential work being the principal recorded building activity in the periods shown. The house-led pattern gives the building program a narrow composition, while the non-residential figure records no approved value for that separate period.

Economic connections

Transport is the clearest connection between council project work and the economic base. Completed transport work shared with other councils may support regional access for agricultural businesses and the movement of goods, although the figures do not measure a resulting change in freight volumes, travel times or business output. The mechanism is direct: road access is relevant to farms, transport operators and wholesale links, while 3.9% of employed residents worked in transport, postal and warehousing and 3.5% in wholesale trade in 2021. Those activities provide a local link between primary production and the movement and distribution of goods. Shared work also places the access function across council boundaries rather than within one local construction schedule.

The residential construction figures connect population conditions with local building activity. Three dwellings were approved in the 12 months to July 2026, all houses, while the population rose by 10 people in 2025. This pattern may add some housing capacity for a small and slowly changing resident base, but approvals are counted when building work is approved to proceed and do not measure completion or occupancy. The $0 of non-residential building approvals in the 12 months to June 2026 means the recorded building signal is concentrated in homes rather than non-residential structures. The relationship is a capacity link: approved homes may accommodate some change in residents, while the approvals measure itself remains separate from population outcomes.

Outlook

The immediate outlook is shaped by the scale of the resident base and the continuing weight of agriculture. Population growth in 2025 was 1.9%, with natural increase the largest of the three reported contributors. Agricultural businesses numbered 92 in June 2025, including 40 employing businesses in that industry. The labour force was 301 in 2026-Q1 and the unemployment rate was 2%. These indicators support close attention to agricultural conditions, workforce availability and the capacity of local services to respond to gradual demographic change. They also show why changes in the agricultural business base and labour market can have a relatively direct bearing on the council’s economic conditions.

The project direction is best read alongside approvals rather than as a measure of local output. Completed transport work shared with other councils provides an access connection, while the current approval pattern is 3 houses and $1.5m of residential building work in the 12 months to July 2026, alongside $0 of non-residential building approvals in the 12 months to June 2026. Future attention should focus on whether dwelling approvals remain house-led, whether non-residential work changes, and whether the mix of transport activity shifts. These indicators together describe the balance between completed access work and current local building activity, while leaving economic outcomes to be assessed through population, business and labour-market measures.

For council and planning staff

Kent’s population was 539 in 2025 and increased by 10 people, or 1.9%, during the year. Natural increase contributed 7 people, while net internal migration contributed 1 and net overseas migration 2. The figures describe gradual change led mainly by births minus deaths, with smaller contributions from movement across Australia and overseas. That pattern provides a basis for tracking whether service capacity needs change incrementally across the council area as the resident base evolves. The council’s service-related employment base included education and training at 8.1% of employed residents and health care and social assistance at 4.7% in the 2021 Census. These shares identify education and health as part of the local employment structure.

For buyers’ agents and investors

In the 2021 Census, 44.3% of occupied private dwellings were owned outright, 10.3% were owned with a mortgage and 24.1% were rented. Average household size was 2.6 people and median age was 39. Thirty per cent of residents had lived at a different address five years earlier. Together, these measures describe a settled but mobile population, with a substantial outright-owned component and a meaningful rental sector. Median weekly household income was $1,784 and median weekly personal income was $1,103 in 2021. The labour force was 301 people in 2026-Q1, with 6 unemployed people and an unemployment rate of 2%. New dwelling approvals in the 12 months to July 2026 comprised 3 houses and 0 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings.

For builders and developers

In the 12 months to July 2026, 3 dwellings were approved: 3 new houses and 0 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings. The rate was 5.6 dwellings per 1,000 residents, and the value of residential building work approved, including new homes, alterations and additions, was $1.5m. This is a small, house-led approval profile for the period, with the activity measure expressed as approvals to proceed. There were 6 registered construction businesses in June 2025. Construction accounted for 0% of employed residents in the 2021 Census. Non-residential building approvals were $0 in the 12 months to June 2026. These figures describe the size of the registered construction base, the resident employment profile and the approved non-residential building value across their respective periods.

Key takeaways

• Agriculture is the defining economic base: it accounted for 64.3% of employed residents in 2021 and 92 registered businesses in June 2025.
• The project direction is completed transport work shared with other councils, while current building activity is concentrated in residential approvals.
• Population increased by 10 people, or 1.9%, in 2025, alongside a labour force of 301 people and a 2% unemployment rate in 2026-Q1.

Sources

• Agriculture, forestry and fishing — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Estimated resident population — ABS Regional Population
• Labour force — Small Area Labour Markets
• Education and training — ABS Census 2021
• Public administration and safety — ABS Census 2021
• Health care and social assistance — ABS Census 2021
• Transport, postal and warehousing — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Employing businesses — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• 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
• Unemployed persons — Small Area Labour Markets
• Unemployment rate — Small Area Labour Markets
• 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
• Wholesale trade — ABS Census 2021
• Employing businesses, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Owned outright — 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
• Median personal income (weekly) — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses, Construction — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Dwellings approved per 1,000 residents, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Construction — ABS Census 2021