Forestry, jobs and spending: FOREST INDUSTRY EMPLOYMENT AND EXPENDITURE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA, 25 6 science for sustainable forest landscapes Author Jacki Schirmer ISBN 978--984958-8-1
2 Introduction Western Australia s forest industries are experiencing ongoing change. Factors such as changing technology, expansion of eucalypt plantations and changed access to native forests are changing the number and types of jobs created by the industry. There is often debate about the impacts of these changes on local regions which Western Australian (WA) regions depend most on the forest industry? How are changes to the industry affecting these regions. Robust data on the employment and spending generated by the forest industry in WA can help inform these discussions. This report summarises results of the Forest Industry Survey, a survey of employment and expenditure by the plantation and native forest industries in southern WA the region with over 95 per cent of forest industry activity in WA undertaken by researchers working with the Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry. See page 15 to find out how the data was collected, and how you can access the full study results. This study included all forest industry activity in WA occurring south of Geraldton. Author: Dr Jacki Schirmer Forestry, jobs and spending: forest industry employment and expenditure in Western Australia, 25-6 is a publication of CRC Forestry Limited Author: Dr Jacki Schirmer 1, 2 1 Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry, Hobart 2 Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra October 28 CRC for Forestry Private Bag 12 Hobart TAS 71 Australia Phone: 3 6226 7947 Fax: 3 6226 7942 www.crcforestry.com.au Copyright CRC Forestry Limited All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the copyright holder. Thank you to Carolyn Docking, Forest Industries Association of Tasmania, for providing some of the photos featured in this report. Printed on Spicers Precision Laser (Australian-made paper from 1% sustainably managed plantation pulp) printed with vegetable-based inks. Design & typesetting: Futago www.futago.com.au Printed by: Focal Printing Pty Ltd
How many WA forestry businesses are there? The southern WA forest industry in 25 6 included: 11 industrial forest growers (businesses that manage native forest and/or plantations on a large scale), some of which also process wood products 69 wood and paper processors, operating 73 paper processing sites, as well as a number of wooden structural component manufacturers making products such as doors, cupboards and other wooden fittings 3 238 contractors, consultants and nurseries, and 12 other organisations, including forest industry representative bodies, government regulatory and policy departments/agencies, and research groups. In addition, there are many non-industrial private forest growers in WA. These small growers of native forests and plantations are not included in the data presented in this report.
How many people work in the forest industry? 4 The results of the Forest Industry Survey indicate that 5,57 people were employed in the southern WA forest industry in 25-6, which represented.65 per cent of the region s employed labour force in August 26 1. This equated to 5,9 full-time equivalent employees when part-time and casual employment was taken into account. Figure 1 shows how employment is distributed within the forest industry. The error bars in Figure 1 indicate that estimates are confident to within ±5 per cent. Wood and paper processors listed in two categories, processors and exporters and wooden structural component manufacturing employ a large proportion of the workforce, as do silviculture, harvest and haulage contractors. The high proportion of employment in the contracting sector reflects an ongoing shift over time to engaging contractors to undertake many types of work in the forest industry. Figure 2 shows the extent to which forestry employment is dependent on native forestbased activities, and on softwood and hardwood plantations. Some people work in both the native forestry and plantation sectors, and for some the sector they work in was not identified. In 26, it is estimated that approximately 51 per cent (±3 per cent) of WA forest industry workers were employed in the native forest sector, while approximately 49 per cent (±3 per cent) worked in the plantation sector, with approximately 21 per cent of these working in hardwood plantations, 26 per cent in softwood plantations, and 2 per cent in unknown/other types of plantation. 1 Based on labour force estimates produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing 26.
FIGURE 1 Employment in different sectors of the forest industry 3 No. people employed 25 2 15 1 Graph 1 Persons employed 25 6 average Full time equivalent August 26 5 Industrial growers Processors & exporters Combined growers & processors Wooden structural component manufacturing Silviculture & roading Nursery & seed/seedling suppliers Harvest & haulage contractors Expert advice/consultants Other 5 Data source: Forest Industry Survey FIGURE 2 Proportion of employment in native forestry and plantations 8 7 Growers & processors Contractors & consultants Percentage of workforce 6 5 4 3 2 Graph 1 1 Work in native forests Work in hardwood plantations Work in softwood plantations Unknown/unable to be split between sectors Data source: Forest Industry Survey
Where are forestry businesses and workers located in WA? Figure 3 shows the number of forestry businesses and forestry workers in 26, by local government area (LGA) 2. The size of forestry businesses varies, with a single business employing anywhere from one to 2 workers. The regions with the most forest industry businesses located within them are Albany, the greater city of Perth/Fremantle, Manjimup, Bunbury, and Plantagenet. The LGAs with the highest numbers of forestry workers are the greater city of Perth/Fremantle, Bunbury, Manjimup, Albany, and Plantagenet. Which local government areas are most dependent on the forest industry? 6 To get an understanding of how dependent different WA regions are on the forest industry, the proportion of the workforce employed in the industry was calculated (Figure 4). This figure is based on the location of employment. Some forest industry workers live in a different location to where they work, with up to 25 per cent of workers living in a different LGA to the one in which their work office is located. Dependence on the forest industry varies considerably across different LGAs, with anywhere from.2 per cent to 18 per cent of the employed labour force working in the forest industry. The LGAs that have the highest proportion of their workforce employed in the forest industry are: Nannup (18 per cent) Manjimup (14 per cent) Plantagenet and Denmark (8 per cent) Bridgetown-Greenbushes (8 per cent) Dardanup and Donnybrook-Balingup (6 per cent) Albany (4 per cent) Bunbury (3 per cent), and Collie (3 per cent). In all other LGAs, less than three per cent of employment is directly dependent on the forest industry. The two regions with the highest number of forestry businesses and employees do not have the highest dependence on the forestry industry for employment, with.2 per cent of Perth/ Fremantle workers and 3.3 per cent of Bunbury workers employed in the forest industry. This is because while many forestry workers are based in Perth/Fremantle and Bunbury, these cities have large workforces of which forestry workers make up only a small proportion. 2 Figure 3 does not include businesses manufacturing wooden structural components, as data on total employment for these were obtained directly from the ABS and the number of businesses is not known for this sector.
FIGURE 3 Number of forestry businesses and forestry workers by local government area 14 Number of businesses/workers 12 1 8 6 4 2 Albany Augusta - Margaret River Boddington, Murray, Waroona Boyup Brook Bridgetown - Greenbushes Bunbury Busselton, Capel Number of forestry businesses Collie Cranbrook, Kojonup, Katanning Dardanup, Donnybrook- Balingup Esperance, Ravensthorpe Harvey Manjimup Nannup Perth, Fremantle Plantagenet, Denmark Other LGAs in study region Outside study region Number of forest industry workers Data source: Forest Industry Survey 7 FIGURE 4 Dependence of different WA regions on forestry employment Percentage of employed workforce 25 2 15 1 5 Albany Graph 1 Augusta - Margaret River Boddington, Murray, Waroona Boyup Brook Bridgetown - Greenbushes Bunbury Busselton, Capel Collie Cranbrook, Katanning, Kojonup Dardanup, Donnybrook- Balingup Esperance, Ravensthorpe Harvey Manjimup Nannup Perth, Fremantle Plantagenet, Denmark Other LGAs Data source: Forest Industry Survey, ABS Census of Population and Housing 26
Characteristics of forest industry workers FIGURE 5 Full-time and part-time workers 8 Full-time and part-time workers In general, the forest industry has a higher proportion of full-time employment (74.8 per cent) than the WA workforce as a whole (68.3 per cent), and a lower proportion of part-time and casual employment (25.2 per cent) than the WA average of 31.7 per cent. Percentage of workforce 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Graph 1 WA Forestry Industry 1 Employed full-time Employed part-time/casual Data source: Forest Industry Survey, ABS Census of Population and Housing 26 Gender The forest industry has a much higher proportion of male workers and lower proportion of female workers than the state average, with 81.5 per cent of forest industry workers male and 18.5 per cent female. This compares to 54.8 per cent male and 45.2 per cent female workers for WA as a whole. Percentage of workforce 1 8 6 4 2 FIGURE 6 Gender of forestry workers Male WA Forestry Industry Female Data source: Forest Industry Survey, ABS Census of Population and Housing 26