Tom Willis is an award-winning marketing leader and Co-founder of Lawpath. Tom’s journey journey includes steering several entrepreneurial projects and addressing the unique challenges faced by small businesses. As the Chief Marketing Officer at Lawpath, Tom has been pivotal in shaping the company’s marketing strategy and business growth.
New business registrations across Sebastopol and Delacombe are up 12.5% year on year, more than double the Ballarat city-wide rate. The same corridor is taking most of the city’s new housing, and small business formation is following the homes.
Key numbers, Jan to Sep 2026 vs Jan to Sep 2025
- +12.5% Sebastopol & Delacombe new business growth
- 405 New businesses in 3356 Jan to Sep 2026
- 78% of Ballarat’s new houses 5 years to Jun 2026
- 3,160 City-wide new businesses YTD
Sebastopol and Delacombe are now Ballarat’s business engine
New business registrations in Sebastopol and Delacombe (postcode 3356) climbed to 405 in the first nine months of 2026, up from 360 in the same period of 2025. That’s 12.5% growth, running at more than double the Ballarat city-wide rate of 6.0%.
The housing came first. Over the five years to June 2026, the ABS areas around Delacombe and Alfredton accounted for 4,282 of the 5,496 new houses approved across the entire City of Ballarat. That’s 78% of the city’s residential approvals concentrated in a handful of adjoining postcodes to the west. When that much housing lands in one corridor, small business formation follows.
- +12.5% Sebastopol / Delacombe: New business growth YoY
- +6.0% City of Ballarat: New business growth YoY
When a city’s new homes are concentrated in one corridor, new businesses start there too. Build the homes and the businesses follow.
Tom Willis, Lawpath
Four drivers behind the shift
Ballarat West is the City of Ballarat’s officially designated residential growth corridor, anchored by the Ballarat West Precinct Structure Plan. Around 18,000 new homes are projected across the corridor long-term, and the current pipeline is already well into delivery.
- Big Housing Build at Delacombe. 181 new homes under construction at Leawarra Crescent (117 social, 64 affordable), part of more than $170 million invested across Greater Ballarat delivering 439 new homes between 2026 and 2028.
- Delacombe Town Centre. The $65 million Delacombe Town Centre has anchored retail, services and employment in the corridor. New land estates have launched directly adjacent to it, with trade and service businesses following.
- 80 Miles Street, Sebastopol. 97-lot fully approved residential subdivision, 7 kilometres to Ballarat CBD, 4 kilometres to Delacombe Town Centre. Urban Growth Zone Schedule 2, actively marketed to builders through 2026.
- The Lucas corridor. Lucas grew from 1,014 residents in 2016 to 2,994 in 2021, up 195% in five years. The $63 million Lucas development added hundreds of homes, with further stages still rolling through 2027. Lucas sits inside postcode 3350, so its business formation shows up inside the central Ballarat total.
All four put new residents, with mortgages, into a tightly defined area at the same time. People move in, settle, work out the commute, and then some start their own business. That’s now happening in Ballarat West.
With the Precinct Structure Plan projecting 18,000 homes long-term and the Big Housing Build still under construction, we’d expect Sebastopol and Delacombe to keep outpacing the city-wide rate through 2027.
Health care and logistics are leading the shift
ABS Counts of Australian Businesses data shows the same shift. In the 12 months to June 2025, the three western SA2s of Alfredton, Delacombe and Sebastopol-Redan added a net 212 active businesses, growing their stock by 7.2%. Over the same period, the four central SA2s of Ballarat, Ballarat East, Ballarat North and Wendouree lost a net 115 businesses, shrinking the central stock by 2.0%.
- +7.2% Ballarat West (SA2s): Active businesses Jun 2024 to Jun 2025
- -2.0% Central Ballarat (SA2s): Active businesses Jun 2024 to Jun 2025
- 327 Net shift: Businesses swing between the two zones
Of the 212 extra businesses in Ballarat West, more than half came from four categories tied to residential growth: health care, transport and warehousing, construction, and accommodation and food. Health care alone added 55 businesses, growing the local stock by 19% in a single year. In central Ballarat, those industries grew more slowly or fell.
Ballarat West: the industries driving the growth
Active businesses added in Ballarat West (Jun 2024 to Jun 2025)
- Health care & social assistance. +55 businesses in one year, up 19.0% (289 to 344). GPs, allied health, aged care, childcare, in-home support. New residents in a greenfield corridor need all of them, fast.
- Transport, postal & warehousing. +48 businesses, up 13.0% (370 to 418). Delivery, logistics, trades vans, courier operators.
- Construction. +23 businesses in the west (up 3.6%, 645 to 668), while central Ballarat construction fell by 51 businesses (down 4.7%). The building corridor is physically moving west, and so are the trades.
- Accommodation & food. +13 businesses in the west, up 10.2% (127 to 140), while the same category fell 8.1% in central Ballarat. Cafes, takeaways and small restaurants are opening where the residents are landing.
Central Ballarat: where the losses are concentrated
In central Ballarat, three categories lost more than 20 businesses each in the same 12 months. Construction fell by 51 businesses (-4.7%), retail trade by 28 (-7.3%) and accommodation and food by 27 (-8.1%). The central area is still much larger, with 5,542 active businesses at June 2025 against 3,143 in the west.
Industry growth, Ballarat West vs Central Ballarat
New houses in Ballarat West are being bought by residents who need a GP, a childcare place, a plumber, a courier and a cafe. The ABS data shows each of those categories growing in the west.
Full industry breakdown, City of Ballarat
Change in active businesses Jun 2024 to Jun 2025 · Source: ABS Counts of Australian Businesses (released December 2025)
| Industry | Ballarat West Jun 2024 |
Ballarat West Jun 2025 |
Change (West) | Change (Central) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health Care & Social Assistance | 289 | 344 | +55 (+19.0%) | +13 (+2.1%) |
| Transport, Postal & Warehousing | 370 | 418 | +48 (+13.0%) | -5 (-1.9%) |
| Construction | 645 | 668 | +23 (+3.6%) | -51 (-4.7%) |
| Professional, Scientific & Technical Services | 240 | 259 | +19 (+7.9%) | +5 (+0.8%) |
| Accommodation & Food Services | 127 | 140 | +13 (+10.2%) | -27 (-8.1%) |
| Administrative & Support Services | 143 | 155 | +12 (+8.4%) | -2 (-1.0%) |
| Rental, Hiring & Real Estate | 268 | 276 | +8 (+3.0%) | +4 (+0.5%) |
| Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing | 94 | 98 | +4 (+4.3%) | -16 (-7.1%) |
| Retail Trade | 170 | 167 | -3 (-1.8%) | -28 (-7.3%) |
| Manufacturing | 150 | 148 | -2 (-1.3%) | -1 (-0.5%) |
| Total active businesses | 2,931 | 3,143 | +212 (+7.2%) | -115 (-2.0%) |
Standout growth industries highlighted. Ballarat West = SA2s of Alfredton, Delacombe, Sebastopol-Redan. Central Ballarat = SA2s of Ballarat, Ballarat East-Warrenheip, Ballarat North-Invermay, Wendouree-Miners Rest. Some smaller industries are excluded for readability.
The registrations show where founders are starting businesses, and the ABS counts show which industries they’re in. Both point to Ballarat West.
Tom Willis, Lawpath
Where every postcode landed
Sebastopol and Delacombe grew fastest of the city’s postcodes. Across the whole City of Ballarat, 3,160 new businesses were registered in the first nine months of 2026, up from 2,982 a year earlier, a rise of 6.0%.
New business registrations by postcode
Postcode breakdown
City of Ballarat LGA · Source: Lawpath New Business Index
| Postcode | Suburbs | Active ABNs | 2025 YTD | 2026 YTD | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3356 | Sebastopol, Delacombe, Bonshaw | 3,090 | 360 | 405 | +12.5% |
| 3355 | Wendouree, Lake Gardens, Mitchell Park | 3,164 | 314 | 335 | +6.7% |
| 3350 | Ballarat Central, East, North, West, Alfredton, Lucas, Lake Wendouree, Black Hill | 21,281 | 2,014 | 2,112 | +4.9% |
| 3358 | Winter Valley, Cardigan | 1,466 | 294 | 308 | +4.8% |
| City of Ballarat total | 29,001 | 2,982 | 3,160 | +6.0% | |
Hero postcode highlighted. Postcode 3354 (Ballarat MC) is the mail centre postcode and is excluded. Postcode 3357 (Buninyong, Mount Helen) crosses local-government boundaries and is excluded from this cut. Creswick (3363) is in Hepburn Shire and isn’t included.
Central Ballarat registrations
Central Ballarat (3350) added 98 new businesses, the most of any postcode, and still accounts for two in three of the city’s new registrations, growing 4.9% from a base of 21,281 active ABNs.
What sits behind the numbers
In Ballarat, sole traders and small private companies make up the large majority of new registrations. Local growth is tied to housing and infrastructure, and housing approvals are pointing west.
Ballarat is still adding new businesses, and a growing share are opening in the west. Sebastopol and Delacombe are growing fastest while central Ballarat remains the largest base, and the Ballarat West housing pipeline points to that continuing through 2027.
Starting a business in Ballarat?
Lawpath helps more than 650,000 Australian businesses start strong and grow, from company registration and legal documents to tax advice and compliance, all in one place and on demand. Rated 4.6 out of 5 from 20,000+ verified customer reviews.
Sources & methodology
Lawpath New Business Index (September 2026 edition). New business registrations are compiled from Lawpath’s own records plus publicly available ABR, ASIC and GST registration data. The City of Ballarat is defined using the Lawpath Postcode Master mapping, covering postcodes 3350, 3355, 3356 and 3358. Postcode 3354 (Ballarat MC) is the mail centre postcode and is excluded. Creswick (3363) sits in neighbouring Hepburn Shire and isn’t included. Comparisons are Jan to Sep 2026 against the same period in 2025. Postcode 3357 (Buninyong, Mount Helen) crosses local-government boundaries and is excluded from this cut.
Industry data. ABS 8165.0 Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, June 2021 to June 2025 (released 16 December 2025). Industry breakdowns are at the SA2 level and show net active businesses by industry division. Ballarat West is defined as the SA2s of Alfredton, Delacombe and Sebastopol-Redan. Central Ballarat is defined as the SA2s of Ballarat, Ballarat East-Warrenheip, Ballarat North-Invermay and Wendouree-Miners Rest. The ABS data is a 12-month snapshot to June 2025, so it’s approximately 15 months behind the Lawpath new-registrations data (January to September 2026) in the earlier sections. Both datasets show the same westward shift.
Residential, housing and context. Residential approval share drawn from ABS area-level housing data for the five years to June 2026 (Delacombe and Alfredton SA2s against the City of Ballarat total). Victorian Government Big Housing Build announcement, Delacombe (November 2025); Homes.vic.gov.au project page for Delacombe; City of Ballarat Ballarat West Precinct Structure Plan; The Courier (Ballarat) coverage of the Lucas housing development and the West Ballarat growth corridor.
About Lawpath. Lawpath is where Australian small businesses go to start strong and grow fearless. From company registration and legal documents to tax advice and compliance: everything you need is in one place, on demand, without the big bills. Trusted by 650,000+ businesses across Australia.
