Apart from a more active participation in continental initiatives working through the Organisation of African Unity, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the African Development Bank, South Africa is taking an active part in the activities of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Consumer spending and employment growth in WA, which had outpaced the national average by a wide margin, have come back to be a bit below the national average. The rate of WA's population growth has slowed. Housing prices have declined a little, while those in Sydney and Melbourne have, at least until recently, risen at quite a clip.