The surveys were conducted using an online platform. The questions were closed ended questions canvassing a range of themes including employment, financial indicators, housing, social connectivity, health and wellbeing and future outlook. The questions for the surveys are presented in Appendix A. This section provides a summary of the findings from these surveys.
Findings: Pulse of the Community Wellbeing Survey The analysis below is of data collected through the Pulse of the Community Wellbeing Survey. The survey was open for responses on the Cairns Regional Council website 29 June 2021 and closed 3 August 2021. There were 602 responses received. Demographics of participants: Half of all survey respondents were aged 36-55yrs (50.5%). 2 Around one in six were aged 26-35yrs (17.8%) or 56-65yrs (17.3%), and one in ten 65+yrs (10.6%). A small percentage of respondents were aged 18-25yrs (3.5%). Around one in 10 respondents identified as being of a culturally and linguistically diverse background (11.1%). Smaller percentages of respondents identified as having a disability (4.5%) or as being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (3.8%). Residence: While there was a cross section of suburbs in the Cairns LGA, close to a third of all surveys (30.4%) were completed by residents in five suburbs - Redlynch, Mount Sheridan, Kewarra, Edmonton and Smithfield. Almost all respondents had been living in Cairns prior to March 2020 (95%). 3 Almost all respondents also planned to stay in Cairns for at least the next 12 months (92.7%). Those deciding to leave Cairns (44 respondents) were doing so for reasons that included relocation to be with family/a partner (11 respondents), feeling isolated from friends, family or networks (9) and not being able to find work or sufficient work hours (8). Other issues included not being able to find affordable accommodation (3) and health and wellbeing issues (2). 4
This consisted of 24.3% of respondents aged 26-35 and 26.2% of respondents aged 36-45. 3.8% arrived between March 2020 and March 2021 and 1.2% after March 2021. 4 11 respondents selected ‘other’ for this question, referring in their responses to ‘crime rate’, ‘not enough police’ and ‘having bought a home elsewhere’. 2 3
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