Docklands’ jobs are through the roof

The number of jobs in Docklands grew by 39 per cent in 2015 from the year before, according to new data published by a joint report by the Victorian Government and City of Melbourne.

The data, collected by City of Melbourne, indicates that about 53,000 jobs exist in Docklands.

The second year report of the Melbourne Retail and Hospitality Strategy 2013-2017 also showed that, more generally, visitor numbers to the City of Melbourne are rising, with the daily average weekday population of people entering the city up to 854,000, an increase of 10,000 from the first report.

At the launch of the report, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said the hospitality and retail industries were driving the city’s economy.

“What this latest report shows is that retail and hospitality is absolutely booming in Melbourne. An economy just in the centre of the city that is now $90 billion, retail and hospitality makes up $5.5 billion, which makes it a big employer and a big contributor,” he said.

In responding to questions about how growth would be continued in the city, Cr Doyle said Docklands was a priority area.

“What do you do to build on success? There are opportunities in places like Docklands,” he said.

Mr Doyle also reassured hospitality business owners of the city’s strong anti-lockout law stance.

“They did not work for our city. From what I hear in Sydney, King’s Cross – that thriving centre – is pretty much a ghost town at night. In Melbourne we’ve gone the other way. We’ve actually said that we’re going to have a normalised culture of the city late at night,” he said.

By Nicholas Li
Published in Docklands News
26 April 2016