Background
Independent Population Projections are produced by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) on behalf of the NSW Government. The projections are a key tool used in the planning for land use, service delivery, infrastructure investment and economic development. They are available for the state, regions and local government areas in NSW and paint a picture of the state’s population now, and in the future. They include information such as:
- how many people are likely to be living in NSW;
- how old they are likely to be; and
- where in NSW they are likely to live.
As a key data set published by the NSW Government, they require rigorous fact and assumption checking and assurance processes. NineSquared was engaged by DPIE to assist with the finalisation and release of the 2019 NSW Population Projections.
Our role
NineSquared team members were embedded within the broader DPIE Economics, Population and Land-Use Analytics (EPLA) team to assist with the finalisation of 2019 NSW Population Projections. Our work involved:
- Project management and coordination for the release of the Population Projections, including:
- Coordinating the development of a release plan for the Population Projections
- Facilitating internal project planning sessions, coordinating staff and internal resources, managing project progress and ensuring key deadlines were met
- Resolving questions and escalating issues raised by key internal stakeholders during production and approval processes
- Quality assurance for key inputs and outputs of the NSW Population Project Model to assess whether changes in projections align with expectations.
- Facilitating internal cross agency workshops to review key assumptions relating to housing supply and major infrastructure projects
- Assisting with the development of collateral to support the release of the Population Projections. This included information papers, communications material, and data extract/summaries for stakeholders
Results and relevance
Our work assisted in the timely release of the 2019 population projections, enabling this key data set to be used in planning by NSW Government agencies and other organisations.
