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Using open data to support Tasmanians

Jurisdiction: Tasmania


Rises in the cost of food, rent, and petrol have caused Tasmanians to draw on accumulated savings or term deposits to manage expenses. How can we use open data to identify areas where government support would be most impactful to support Tasmanians with the rising costs of living?

Good food, spectacular scenery, and home to the Southern Lights. Tasmania, or lutruwita by its palawa (Tasmanian Aboriginal) name, is a small island with a long history. It’s one of the few places on Earth with landscapes unchanged from the time of the ancient Gondwana supercontinent. It’s also a place of unique biodiversity, human culture that dates back 2000 generations, and some of Australia's best-preserved colonial history.

Tasmania has also been known to be an affordable place to live. Housing in both the cities and regional areas have historically been cheaper than on the mainland.

However, a University of Tasmania survey from last year has found that Tasmania has not been immune from rising cost of living pressures. Rises in the cost of food, rent, and petrol have caused over a third of respondents to draw on accumulated savings or term deposits to manage expenses.

Tasmania is a beautiful place to live and there is an increasingly urgent need to support Tasmanians with the rising costs of living.

For this challenge we want you to use open data to identify areas where government support would be most impactful.

Additional Information

Relevant links:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-11/cost-of-living-senate-committee-hears-from-tas-charities/102582268
https://www.utas.edu.au/research/institutes-and-centres/isc/updates/articles/how-tasmanians-are-experiencing-the-cost-of-living-crunch

Image credit: Photo by Zac Porter on Unsplash.

Eligibility: Must use at least one Australian dataset.

Entry: Challenge entry is available to all teams in Australia.

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