The Bureau of Communications, Arts and Regional Research (BCARR) undertakes research and provides economic and data analysis on communications, arts, cities and regions to support evidence-based policy development and advice.

Select your area of interest below or explore our menu. You can also keep up with what’s happening in the BCARR via our newsletter, the Bureau Insider.

Communications

Research and analysis of the communications and media sectors.

Learn more

Arts

Research and analysis of the arts sector and cultural and creative parts of the economy.

Learn more

Regions and Cities

The economic and social characteristics of Australia’s regions and cities vary significantly. Spatial research and analysis improves our understanding of these differences and enables location appropriate development.

Learn more

Data Dashboards

A data dashboard is a tool that provides a centralised, interactive means of monitoring, measuring, analysing, and extracting insights from different datasets.

Learn more

Publications

Analysis of Low Earth Orbit Satellites: Implications for Australia’s agriculture and mining sectors

This report explores the potential economic impacts of Low Earth Orbit satellites, with a focus on Australia’s agriculture and mining sectors.

Telecommunications affordability and access for First Nations households: Learnings from the HILDA survey (2024)

Summary

Experimental Gross Regional Product estimates

Gross Regional Product (GRP) is an estimate of each region’s unique contribution to the national economy. While Australian regional economies are interlinked, GRP can be used as an indicator of local economic activity.

Population change and internal migration during the COVID-19 pandemic

Understanding spatial patterns of population change is vital in planning for services and infrastructure, and in managing the pressures created as local populations grow and decline.

Understanding regional data: Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA)

This fact sheet provides a guide to understanding and using Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) data produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. SEIFA is a set of four indexes which are used to compare relative advantage and disadvantage of small areas. 

BCARR City Rings Classification

This fact sheet provides a guide to the purpose and use of the BCARR City Rings Classification. The rings statistical geography breaks Australia’s five largest capital cities into three concentric zones and can be used to analyse patterns in population, jobs, connectivity and access to services.

Australian households and the affordability of telecommunications

This publication is an update and extension of previous research by BCARR into the affordability of telecommunications for Australian households.

Working from Home research report

BCARR has released its findings on the effects of social, demographic and spatial factors on Work from Home uptake and capability in a new research report. Key findings of this report on ‘The role of socio-demographic and spatial characteristics in Work from Home in Australia’ include:

Working zones update

This fact sheet provides an update to the Working zones geography following the 2021 Australian Statistical Geography Standard. The Working zones statistical geography describes regions that reflect commuting patterns of Australian workers and can be used to analyse local labour markets.

Population trends BCARR Migration Geography

This fact sheet provides an overview of Australian population trends over the five years from 2016 to 2021, using the BCARR migration geography based on six regional categories.