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The region is situated in the mid-coastal region of Queensland, sharing borders with the expansive Queensland - Outback region to the west, Central Queensland to the south and Townsville to the north. The Mackay – Isaac - Whitsunday SA4 fully encompasses the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday LGAs.

The region has two distinct parts, divided into east and west by the Great Diving Range. The eastern portion lies along the coast adjacent to the Coral Sea and southern part of the Great Barrier Reef. It is an agricultural production area - sugar cane and horticulture are a feature of the landscape - as well as being a popular tourist area. Airlie Beach is step off point for the Whitsunday Islands. The western portion of the region is in the Brigalow Belt - North bioregion, characterized by undulating to rugged ranges, and alluvial plains, with acacia open forests and eucalypt forests. The economy here is characterized by beef cattle grazing and coal mining.

The major settlements in the eastern portion include Mackay, Airlie Beach and Bowen, while the mining towns of Moranbah and Clermont are the largest in the western portion.

Key findings

Townsville

The region reaches 200,000 residents in 2028.
Queensland is forecast to add 2.1 million people by 2046. The Mackay – Isaac - Whitsunday region is expected to comprise approximately 2.3% of this growth.
There is limited evidence of densification to come as there is plenty of greenfield land to service any housing need. A small number of units have recently been constructed, or are planned, in the larger towns within the SA4: Mackay & Airlie Beach. Mackay has an approved proposal for a 14 story block of flats, which would be the tallest in the city.
Minimal population is expected to be added to most of the SA2s within this region apart from the hotspots of growth mentioned previously. As there are no expansions or new coal mines understood to be on the horizon, it is assumed that any additional workforce will be accommodated in the substantial work camps already existing in the main mining towns (these are not counted as usual residents, but included in the total population).

What share of Australia's growth will occur in Queensland?

We set the context for our local area forecasts with a presentation of our state- and regional-level forecasts for Queensland.

Access the presentation slides (including our forecast data for each region), and a short recap or the full webinar presentation on-demand. Learn what's driving change and how much growth will go to each region of the state over the 25 years to 2046.

The population forecast for Queensland

Forecast results

The following forecast information presents the numbers for Mackay - Isaac - Whitsunday.

Learn more about the different options to access these forecasts for Local Government Areas (LGAs), suburbs, custom catchments or the entire state or nation here.

	2021	2026	2031	2036	2041	2046
Forecast Population	183,209	197,639	207,134	215,839	224,238	232,432
Change (five year)	-	14,430	9,495	8,705	8,339	8,194
Average Annual Change (%)	-	1.53%	0.94%	0.83%	0.77%	0.72%
Forecast Dwellings	81,026	83,840	87,828	91,802	95,739	99,660
Change (five year	-	2,814	3,988	3,973	3,937	3,921
Average Annual Change (%)	-	0.69%	0.89%	0.89%	0.84%	0.81%

Access

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Government Toolkit

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See the National Forecasting Program in action in our Population Forecast online tool, or get in touch.

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