According to the program’s report, the largest portion of new positions will come from the Health Care and Social Assistance sector, which is expected to rise by more than 3,500 jobs by 2031.

Ballarat Health Services was one of many stakeholders which contributed to council's strategy. BHS chief executive officer Andrew Rowe said in a statement that he believed the final figure was accurate due to the fact that “health is a growing area and we expect to see continued growth in the future”.

Between 2007 to 2014 the Health Care and Social Assistance sector was Ballarat’s largest increase in the number of jobs with 1844, followed by Accommodation and Food Services (999), Education and Training (886) and Construction (619).

Ballarat Community Health chief executive officer, Robyn Reeves said recent history at her agency also supported those statistics.

“Our organisation has experienced considerable growth over the last 10 years,” she said “and certainly we're hoping to continue to grow in the coming years.

“The health industry is one of the strongest growing workforce Australia-wide.

“It is not just doctors and nurses, it includes services that help people prevent illness, allied health and then you include Social Assistance (like the City of Ballarat report has done) and that takes in things like homelessness services, disability support and with the National Disability Insurance Scheme to come in there is potential growth associated with that alone.”

Health Care and Social Assistance currently contributes $743 million to Ballarat’s $10.3 billion economy – the second highest sector behind Construction ($846m).

Ms Reeves said more now needs to be done in preventing and managing illness in the community

"Those are the areas we are really focused on," she said.

"Ballarat is growing quickly. We need to keep people healthy in the community first and foremost and if they are ill there needs to be work done to manage and keep them out of hospitals.”