Fingal Online Access Centre

A Community Profile
Fingal is a township with a population of approximately 400 in an elevated valley in the North-East of Tasmania. This Fingal Valley lies East-West, adjacent to the coast and at a low elevation. It is surrounded by the forests of the Eastern Tiers which are managed by Forestry Tasmania and extensive logging operations have been carried out over many years. Forest products and industries are a major source of employment.
Mining for various types of ore including Gold, Tin and Wolfram has traditionally sustained another large segment of the population but now the only mining is carried out by the Cornwall Coal Company which directly employs 60 persons.
The landscape is rural and several medium size landholdings still derive an income from agriculture, grazing sheep (for wool and fat lambs) and cattle as well as cropping. Common cash crops are poppies (for morphine production), potatoes, wheat and other grain and fodder crops. There are several smaller villages in the Fingal Valley within a radius of 25 km of Fingal. These towns are
Fingal | St Marys | Avoca | Mathinna | Mangana | Rossarden and Storys Creek


The demographics of the area are mainly young families and retired persons. The 16 – 35 age brackets tend to leave the area for education and employment reasons. Though some professional services are supplied in health, education and management, the vast majority of persons are working class, unemployed or retired and the region has a very low mean income and a low socio-economic status by ABS statistics available. Nevertheless the Community is a vibrant one with new artisans and business opportunities arriving regularly. An influx of interstate property buyers and settlers has added new dimensions to the social dynamics of the region. The region is becoming less isolated and infrastructure is becoming gradually upgraded.