Cessnock vs Great Lakes

Great Lakes and Cessnock are two New South Wales regions with very different layouts. Great Lakes is more walkable, with 53.8% of homes within a 15-minute walk of groceries and 40.1% near health services, compared to just 24.5% and 11.6% in Cessnock. This helps Great Lakes earn a somewhat walkable score of 4.5, while Cessnock is mostly car-dependent at 3.6. However, Cessnock has a much larger First Nations population, with 6,487 people compared to 2,267 in Great Lakes.

These two areas are nearly identical in their average terrain slope and the share of people who speak a First Nations language. While they both have about 71% of homes within a short walk of public transport, the gap in First Nations household income is quite large, with Cessnock's typical income being $1,672 while Great Lakes is $1,201. This gap is far wider than the small differences seen in Year 12 completion rates between the two.