Surf Coast gets creative

Geelong lags in the regional rankings list

THE Surf Coast’s creative industry is leading the nation while the City of Greater Geelong has failed to make the top 10, new data has revealed.

Rubbing shoulders with Byron, Anangu Pitjantjatjara and Hobart, the Surf Coast came in fourth on Regional Australia Institute’s list of creative industries employment.

But the nearby City of Greater Geelong’s “clever and creative future” vision has failed to earn it a top spot.

Greater Geelong came in 11th in terms of the size of its creative industry workforce, behind the Gold Coast, Noosa and Newcastle.

“The Surf Coast had a fair mix of creative occupations, excluding computing-based creative occupations, and stronger representation from architecture-based occupations and fashion, industrial and jewellery design (40 jobs),” the Regional Australia Institute report said.

Of the 8201 jobs within Surf Coast Shire, 503 belonged to the creative industry, 6.1 per cent of total jobs.

Surf Coast economic development manager Matt Taylor credited global surf brands Rip Curl and Quiksilver, which were born on the Surf Coast, to its creative industry growth.

“Over the years they have both produced a lot of talented staff who have gone on to create their own innovative businesses, and that focus on entrepreneurship has continued to grow in many different directions,” Mr Taylor said.

“Like many other sectors, creative industry start-ups and businesses are choosing to locate here because of the great beaches and the outdoor activities such as the tracks and trails, and the close proximity to Melbourne.

“We’re also seeing more demand for co-location working spaces for these people, as they’re looking to connect with like-minded creatives in a variety of industries, not just the surfing industry.”

The Surf Coast was also among the top specialised local government authorities for creative industries in 2011 and 2006.

Between 2011-16 Surf Coast accrued 93 extra jobs in creative industries, highlighting strong jobs growth.

Meanwhile Geelong council’s clever and creative future document says the council hopes it will be internationally recognised as a clever and creative city-region by 2047.

But of the 89,797 jobs in the region, only 4095 — or 4.6 per cent — were in the creative industry.

Geelong redeemed itself by earning a specialisation in the tourism and manufacturing industries.

“In 2016, the greatest job growth based on local conditions was in Greater Geelong (350 food processing jobs) where the greatest increases were in the occupations of bread manufacturing (160 jobs), beer manufacturing (75 jobs) and other food product manufacturing (57 jobs),” the report said.

Regional Australia’s creative industry showed the most growth from 2011-16 (21 per cent), followed by tourism (18 per cent) and food processing (17 per cent).

Advanced manufacturing plummeted by 23 per cent in regional Australia.