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CHAPTER 3 - A PROFILE OF DISCRETE ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER COMMUNITIES


INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the main characteristics of the discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities enumerated in the 2006 CHINS. For the purposes of this survey, a discrete Indigenous community is defined as a geographic location, bounded by physical or cadastral boundaries, and inhabited predominantly by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. For more details, refer to Discrete Indigenous Community in the Glossary. The survey included discrete communities located in urban and sparsely populated areas across Australia.

The 2006 CHINS includes summary information on the number and reported usual population of these communities, as well as details of their housing and related infrastructure such as water, electricity, sewerage system, drainage, and rubbish collection and disposal. Information is also presented on transport, communication, sporting facilities, and the education and health services available to these communities.

Detailed community infrastructure data were collected from all discrete Indigenous communities with either a reported population of 50 or more people or self-administered communities with a population of less than 50 people. In an attempt to reduce the reporting load on respondents, all other communities with a population of less than 50 people and administered by a larger discrete Indigenous community or Resource Agency were asked a subset of questions from the community questionnaire. For this reason, care should be taken when interpreting community data presented in this publication. Footnotes have been included to assist users interpret data and identify data inclusions and exclusions from the various data items.

In 2006, a total of 376 (32%) communities completed the detailed community questionnaire and 811 (68%) completed a subset of questions from this questionnaire.

POPULATION

A total of 1,187 discrete Indigenous communities were enumerated in the 2006 CHINS, a reduction of 29 communities from 1,216 in 2001. The change in the number of discrete communities reflects a number of small discrete Indigenous communities being abandoned. Almost three quarters of total discrete Indigenous communities had a population of less than 50 people. A total of 17 discrete Indigenous communities had a reported population of 1,000 people or more.

3.1 Remoteness area of discrete Indigenous communities, by population - 2001 and 2006
		Communities with a population of
		Less than 50	50-99	100-199	200-499	500-999	1,000 or more	All communities	Reported usual population
		no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.
2001
Remoteness Area
	Major cities	-	1	3	1	-	-	5	645
	Inner regional	1	7	5	6	-	-	19	2 776
	Outer regional	14	13	12	11	-	3	53	11 838
	Remote	69	17	9	11	1	2	109	12 146
	Very remote	805	64	51	77	17	16	1 030	80 680
	Australia	889	102	80	106	18	21	1 216	108 085
2006
Remoteness Area
	Major cities	2	-	2	-	-	-	4	346
	Inner regional	5	5	8	1	-	-	19	1 870
	Outer regional	20	9	16	4	-	3	52	10 254
	Remote	71	14	8	7	2	2	104	11 237
	Very remote	767	95	58	59	17	12	1 008	69 253
	Australia	865	123	92	71	19	17	1 187	92 960
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

A total of 92,960 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were reported as living in discrete Indigenous communities, down 15,125 people from the 108,085 people reported in 2001. Decreases were noted across all remoteness areas.

The decreases in population counts from 2001 to 2006 can be attributed to the change in data collection and improvements in data quality. In 2006, computer assisted interviewing was introduced allowing in-field edit checks to be incorporated into the data collection. For more details on data collection and data quality, refer to paragraphs 11 to 36 of the Explanatory Notes.

A total of 1,008 (85%) discrete Indigenous communities were located in very remote localities, of which 767 (76%) had a population of less than 50. The number of very remote discrete Indigenous communities with a population of less than 50 decreased, down 38 (5%) communities from 805 reported in 2001 to 767 in 2006. The decrease in the number of very remote communities is largely attributed to outstations being abandoned and homelands no longer being supported by regional IHOs as they are being used for cultural activities only. The total number of reported Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders living in very remote communities was 69,253, which was 74 per cent of the total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population living in communities.

A total of 104 (9%) discrete Indigenous communities were located in remote Australia, compared to 109 reported in the 2001 CHINS. The total number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders living in remote communities was 11,237, down 8 per cent from 12,146 reported in 2001.

The number of urban discrete Indigenous communities decreased by 2 (3%) from 77 in 2001 to 75 in 2006. A total of 12,470 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people lived in urban discrete communities (i.e. major cities, inner regional and outer regional), down 2,789 (22%) people from the 15,259 reported in 2001.

Community locations

As previously stated, almost three quarters of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in discrete communities were located in very remote communities, followed by those in remote Australia 11,237 (12%). Those populations living in outer regional Australia totalled 10,254 (11%), with inner regional Australia and major cities as the remainder.

The highest proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in discrete communities were located in the Northern Territory, 41,681 (45%) followed by Queensland, 27,446 (30%) and Western Australia, 13,838 (15%).

3.2 Reported usual population for discrete Indigenous communities, by State or Territory - by remoteness area - 2006
		Major cities	Inner regional	Outer regional	Remote	Very remote	Australia
		no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.
State or Territory
	New South Wales	340	1 687	2 158	407	490	5 082
	Victoria	-	120	150	-	-	270
	Queensland	-	-	6 184	5 213	16 049	27 446
	South Australia	-	63	858	119	3 527	4 567
	Western Australia	6	-	163	1 148	12 521	13 838
	Tasmania	-	-	-	-	76	76
	Northern Territory	-	-	741	4 350	36 590	41 681
	Australia	346	1 870	10 254	11 237	69 253	92 960
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

Temporary population increases

The size and duration of short term increases in the populations of discrete communities can create stress on community infrastructure which needs to support the visitors for some period of time, in addition to the community's usual population. In 2006, 248 (21%) discrete Indigenous communities reported a population increase for two weeks or more during the 12 months prior to the survey. Of all the communities which experienced a population increase, just over a third reported increases of a size similar to, or greater than, their usual population. Cultural reasons accounted for the majority of increases (53%), followed by visitors over holiday periods (25%), and changes in wet/dry season (9%).

3.3 Reported population increases in discrete Indigenous communities(a)(b), by reported usual population - 2006
		Communities with a population of
		Less than 50	50-99	100-199	200-499	500-999	1,000 or more	All communities
		no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.
Population increase
	Less than 20 people	13	12	3	4	2	-	34
	20-49 people	9	27	19	15	1	1	72
	50-99 people	9	18	21	14	5	3	70
	100-199 people	1	11	6	11	3	2	34
	200 people or more	-	6	15	9	4	4	38
	Total with increase in population	32	74	64	53	15	10	248
Reason for increase in population
	Cultural reasons	12	35	31	34	13	7	132
	Wet season	-	7	3	5	2	2	19
	Dry season	-	1	2	-	-	-	3
	Sporting or recreational events	-	2	5	3	-	-	10
	Holidays	13	23	20	6	-	-	62
	Seasonal work	1	1	-	1	-	-	3
	Better facilities	-	-	1	-	-	-	1
	Meetings	-	1	-	-	-	-	1
	Other	6	4	2	4	-	1	17
No increase in population		22	42	25	18	4	6	117
All communities(c)(d)		865	123	92	71	19	17	1 187
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Largest population increase lasting 2 weeks or more in the 12 months prior to the survey.
(b) Data not collected in 'administered' communities with a population of less than 50. Refer to Explanatory Notes paragraph 16 for further details.
(c) Includes communities where population increase was not collected.
(d) Components may not add to totals as more than one response may be specified.

KEY COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS

Housing

In the 2006 CHINS, a total of 17,177 permanent dwellings were reported as being located in 1,187 discrete Indigenous communities of which 15,655 (91%) permanent dwellings were managed by IHOs and the remaining were state government owned, owned by other organisations or privately owned permanent dwellings. The number of IHO managed permanent dwellings increased by 427 (3%), from 15,228 permanent dwellings reported in 2001. A total of 13,105 (76%) permanent dwellings located in discrete Indigenous communities were located in very remote areas, followed by non-remote and remote with 2,244 (13%) and 1,828 (11%) respectively.

In 2006, 4,039 (4%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were reported as living in temporary dwellings, of which 3,886 persons (96%) required permanent housing. The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people requiring permanent housing decreased by 1,234 persons (24%) from 2001.

A total of 1,596 occupied temporary dwellings were reported in the 2006 CHINS, down 286 (15%) from the reported 1,882 occupied temporary dwellings reported in 2001. Two thirds of occupied temporary dwellings were located in very remote areas, followed by non-remote and remote reporting 17 per cent each.

Education

In 2006, a total of 245 (21%) of the 1,187 discrete Indigenous communities reported that they had a primary school located within the community, down slightly from the 249 reported in 2001. Around 87 per cent of discrete Indigenous communities with primary schools located in the community were located in very remote Australia.

A total of 49 discrete Indigenous communities reported that they had a secondary school up to year 10 located within the community, down from 67 reported communities in 2001. While there was a decrease of 18 (27%) in the number of communities with a secondary school up to year 10, 14 of these communities are now reporting a secondary school up to Year 12 located in the community, indicating an improvement in the education services provided.

The number of discrete Indigenous communities that had a secondary school up to year 12 increased, up 23 (135%) from 17 discrete Indigenous communities in 2001 to 40 communities in 2006.

Access to medical facilities

In 2006, a total of 10 of the 1,187 discrete Indigenous communities reported that they had a hospital located within the community, one more than the 9 reported in 2001.

In CHINS 2006, data for community health centres are now presented in two separate categories, Aboriginal primary health care centres and Other (state funded) community health centres. Aboriginal Primary Health Care Centres are community controlled health facilities that provide health care services and health care support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

In 2006, a total of 107 communities reported an Aboriginal Primary Health Care Centre located within the community, of which 76 were located in very remote communities, 21 in non-remote communities and 10 in remote communities.

A total of 104 Indigenous communities reported that an 'Other (state funded) community health centre' was located in the community. Of these, 89 were located in very remote communities, 9 in non-remote communities and 6 in remote communities.

Access to health professionals

Indigenous health workers are trained to certificate level and generally provide first point of contact for health services within the community. Indigenous health workers provide assistance and information on health issues such as alcohol and mental health, diabetes, ear and eye health, sexual health, hospital education and as liaison officers with other health professionals. Indigenous health workers are often required within communities for cultural and sensitivity reasons.

In 2006, 302 (25%) discrete Indigenous communities reported having a male Indigenous health worker visit or work in the community, up 37 (14%) from the 265 communities reported in 2001. Very remote discrete Indigenous communities accounted for 236 (78%) of communities reporting male Indigenous health workers visiting or working in the community followed by remote and non-remote with 39 (13%) and 27 (9%) respectively.

The number of discrete Indigenous communities that reported having a female Indigenous health worker visit or work in the community decreased, down 17 (5%) from 349 in 2001 to 332 in 2006. Very remote discrete Indigenous communities accounted for 283 (85%) of communities reporting female Indigenous health workers visiting or working in the community followed by non-remote and remote with 28 (8%) and 21 (6%) respectively.

In 2006, registered nurses worked or visited a total of 368 (31%) discrete Indigenous communities, a decrease of 66 (15%) from 434 communities in 2001. Very remote discrete Indigenous communities accounted for 328 (89%) of communities reporting registered nurses visiting or working in the community, followed by non-remote and remote with 23 (6%) and 17 (5%) respectively.

A total of 293 (25%) discrete Indigenous communities reported doctors visiting or working within the community, a decrease of 109 (27%) communities from 402 in 2001. Of these communities, 239 (82%) were located in very remote localities.

Water supply

The number of discrete Indigenous communities with no organised water supply decreased from 21 communities in 2001 to 9 in 2006. Eight of these communities were located in very remote areas.

In 2006, a total of 209 (18%) discrete Indigenous communities reported the main source of drinking water as a town water supply, an increase of 23 (12%) communities from 186 in 2001. Bore water was the most common source of drinking water with 694 (58%) communities reporting it as the main source of drinking water, down 90 (11%) communities from 784 in 2001.

Electricity supply

No organised electricity supply was reported in 32 (3%) discrete Indigenous communities in 2006, fewer than the 80 (7%) communities reported in 2001. The number of communities connected to state grid as the main source of electricity increased, up 5 per cent from 260 communities in 2001 to 274 communities in 2006.

The number of communities relying on community generators as the main electricity supply decreased from 480 communities in 2001 to 377 communities in 2006. Care should be taken when comparing these decreases as a total of 106 (9%) discrete Indigenous communities did not report their main source of electricity.

The number of communities reporting the use of solar or solar hybrid as main source of electricity remained consistent with 212 communities reporting this supply in 2006 compared to 215 communities in 2001. Care should be taken when comparing solar and solar hybrid as, while total solar remains consistent, the reported numbers for these categories vary considerably between 2001 and 2006. This may indicate respondent difficulty in interpreting the response categories for this item.

Sewerage system

In the 2006 CHINS, 25 discrete Indigenous communities reported having no organised sewerage system, an improvement on the 91 communities reported in 2001. The total population affected by the lack of sewerage facilities was 1,969 people (table 3.9).

Septic tanks with leach drain were the most common type of sewerage system in discrete Indigenous communities, with half the communities reporting this type of system.

The number of communities connected to a town sewerage system improved between 2001 and 2006, with an increase of 32 (36%) communities now reporting this system.

Community water-borne systems also improved slightly, recording an increase of 12 (13%) communities now using this type of sewerage system.

Rubbish collection

Organised rubbish collection was carried out in 337 discrete Indigenous communities in 2006 compared to 363 reported in 2001. Decreases in communities with this service were recorded for all Remoteness Areas. In 2006, a total of 29 communities reported having no organised rubbish collection.

Telecommunications

A total of 630 (53%) discrete Indigenous communities reported public access to telephones within the community. Of these, 547 (87%) were located in very remote localities.

In 2006, 180 communities reported community access to a satellite dish for general broadcasts, Internet access and the like, of which 167 (93%) were located in very remote localities.

3.4 Selected characteristics of discrete Indigenous communities, by Remoteness Area - 2001 and 2006
				Non-remote		Remote		Very remote		All communities
				2001	2006	2001	2006	2001	2006	2001	2006
				no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.
Number of dwellings (no.)
Dwellings
	Permanent dwellings
		Total		2 355	2 244	1 822	1 828	12 789	13 105	16 966	17 177
		IHO managed		2 200	2 208	1 667	1 711	11 361	11 736	15 228	15 655
		Other		155	36	155	117	1 428	1 369	1 738	1 522
	Temporary dwellings
		Total temporary dwellings		140	274	256	269	1 486	1 053	1 882	1 596
Number of people (no.)
Population living in temporary dwellings				316	684	608	532	4 678	2 823	5 602	4 039
Population requiring permanent housing				308	666	534	511	4 278	2 709	5 120	3 886
Number of communities (no.)
All communities				77	75	109	104	1 030	1 008	1 216	1 187
Population
	Reported usual population
		Less than 50		15	27	69	71	805	767	889	865
		50-99		21	14	17	14	64	95	102	123
		100-199		20	26	9	8	51	58	80	92
		200-499		18	5	11	7	77	59	106	71
		500-999		-	-	1	2	17	17	18	19
		1,000 or more		3	3	2	2	16	12	21	17
Education
	Education facilities located in communities
		Primary school		12	19	11	14	226	212	249	245
		Secondary school up to Year 10(a)		7	3	3	3	57	43	67	49
		Secondary school up to Year 12(a)		2	3	-	2	15	35	17	40
		Pre-primary(a)		23	22	11	10	119	94	153	126
		Other education services(a)		23	29	7	13	90	126	120	168
Health facilities
	Medical facilities located in communities
		Hospital located in community		4	4	1	1	4	5	9	10
		Aboriginal Primary Health Care Centre		na	21	na	10	na	76	na	107
		Other (state funded) community health centre		na	9	na	6	na	89	na	104
	Health professionals visiting or working in communities
		Male Indigenous health worker		21	27	33	39	211	236	265	302
		Female Indigenous health worker		29	28	15	21	305	283	349	332
		Doctor		31	22	19	32	352	239	402	293
		Registered nurse		25	23	17	17	392	328	434	368
Utilities
	Water supply
		Main source of drinking water
			Connected to town supply	54	57	62	57	70	95	186	209
			Bore water	13	10	27	21	744	663	784	694
			Rain water tank(s)	2	2	7	7	44	32	53	41
			River/reservoir etc	7	6	5	3	87	48	99	57
			Well or spring	1	-	4	2	46	37	51	39
			Carted water	na	-	na	12	na	15	na	27
			Other organised water supply	-	-	4	-	18	3	22	3
		No organised water supply		-	-	-	1	21	8	21	9
	Electricity supply
		Main source of electricity
			State grid/transmitted supply	74	70	70	69	116	135	260	274
			Community generators	-	1	15	8	465	368	480	377
			Domestic generators	2	3	3	7	162	168	167	178
			Solar	-	-	1	6	89	99	90	105
			Solar hybrid	-	1	16	12	109	94	125	107
			Other organised electricity supply	-	-	1	-	13	8	14	8
		No organised electricity supply		1	-	3	1	76	31	80	32
	Sewerage system
		Type of sewerage system
			Connected to town system	38	43	26	30	25	48	89	121
			Community water-borne system	7	10	10	9	79	89	96	108
			Septic tanks with common effluent disposal	16	12	15	7	73	82	104	101
			Septic tanks with leach drain	14	13	46	57	537	523	597	593
			Pit toilets	-	-	7	7	217	195	224	202
			Pan toilets	-	-	2	-	1	1	3	1
			Other organised sewerage system	-	-	-	-	12	9	12	9
		No organised sewerage system		2	3	3	2	86	20	91	25
Rubbish disposal(a)
	Community has organised rubbish collection			66	57	48	41	249	239	363	337
	Community does not have organised rubbish collection			7	6	2	1	19	22	28	29
Telecommunication facilities
	Public access to community telecommunication facilities
		Telephones		21	34	44	49	532	547	597	630
		Satellite dish(a)		na	5	na	8	na	167	na	180
		Radio(a)		70	62	49	42	238	233	357	337
		Television(a)(b)		69	63	49	42	245	244	363	349
		Internet(a)		na	19	na	7	na	110	na	136
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
na not available
(a) Data not collected in 'administered' communities with a population of less than 50. Refer to Explanatory Notes paragraph 16 for further details.
(b) Excludes cable television in 2001.

COMMUNITY HOUSING

In 2006, a total of 17,177 permanent dwellings were reported as being located in discrete Indigenous communities. IHO managed permanent dwellings accounted for 91 per cent of total permanent dwellings.

Discrete Indigenous communities with a population of less than 50 accounted for the highest proportion of temporary dwellings. A total of 719 temporary dwellings was reported for small communities, down 284 (28%) from the 1,003 reported in 2001.

Of the 15,655 IHO managed permanent dwellings, 10,319 (66%) were reported as needing minor or no repair, 3,911 (25%) required major repair and 1,425 (9%) required replacement. The proportion of dwellings needing only minor or no repair was highest in the small communities, decreasing from 75 per cent for communities with a population of less than 50 to an average of 57 per cent for communities with a population of 50 or more.

Compared to the 2001 survey, the proportion of IHO managed permanent dwellings requiring major repair or replacement increased slightly from 31 per cent in 2001 to 34 per cent in 2006.

3.5 Discrete Indigenous community housing, by reported usual population - 2006
		Less than 50	50-99	100-199	200-499	500-999	1,000 or more	All communities
Number of dwellings (no.)
Permanent dwellings
	IHO managed	2 653	1 572	2 464	3 649	1 943	3 374	15 655
	Other	25	75	235	508	325	354	1 522
	Total	2 678	1 647	2 699	4 157	2 268	3 728	17 177
Temporary dwellings
	Total temporary dwellings	719	187	182	214	43	251	1 596
Condition
	Minor or no repairs	2 004	1 004	1 562	2 384	1 229	2 136	10 319
	Major repairs	497	423	638	816	582	955	3 911
	Replacement	152	145	264	449	132	283	1 425
Number of communities (no.)
All communities		865	123	92	71	19	17	1 187
Number of people (no.)
Population living in temporary dwellings		1 803	531	391	591	140	583	4 039
Population requiring permanent housing		1 722	510	365	570	136	583	3 886
Reported usual population		10 701	8 121	12 748	21 140	12 940	27 310	92 960

A total of 694 (58%) communities reported bores as the main source of water. Of these, 541 (78%) had a population of less than 50 people. A total of 20 communities reporting bores as the main source had a population of 500 or more.

A total of 27 communities relied on carted water as the main supply of water. The majority of these had a population of less than 50. One large community with a population of over 200 reported carted water as the main source due to problems with the bore.

Nine small communities with a population of less than 50 reported no organised water supply.

Of all discrete Indigenous communities not connected to a town water supply (self administered or reporting a population of 50 or more), 48 communities reported that the community's drinking water had failed testing. These communities had a combined population of 12,059 people.

A total of 141 discrete Indigenous communities, representing a combined total of 46,114 people, reported that drinking water was treated. Chlorination accounted for the highest proportion of water treatments, with 112 communities reporting this type of treatment.

A total of 68 Indigenous communities, either self administered or reporting a population of 50 or more, and not connected to a town water supply, reported they did not use any water treatments in the drinking water.

3.6 Water supply and testing in discrete Indigenous communities, by reported usual population - 2006
		Communities with a population of
		Less than 50	50-99	100-199	200-499	500-999	1,000 or more	All communities	Reported usual population
		no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.
Main source of water
	Connected to town supply	81	53	46	19	4	6	209	28 084
	Bore water	541	57	38	38	12	8	694	48 511
	Rain water tank(s)	31	4	1	5	-	-	41	2 378
	River/reservoir	37	3	4	7	3	3	57	11 667
	Well or spring	37	-	1	1	-	-	39	887
	Carted water	26	-	-	1	-	-	27	637
	Other organised water supply	2	1	-	-	-	-	3	104
	No organised water supply	9	-	-	-	-	-	9	20
Water sent away for testing(a)(b)(c)
	Drinking water failed testing	5	10	15	12	4	2	48	12 059
	Drinking water did not fail testing	10	27	21	27	9	6	100	29 104
	Total communities water sent away for testing(d)	15	42	38	45	13	11	164	50 043
Drinking water not sent away for testing(a)(b)		10	22	6	6	1	-	45	4 796
Treatment of drinking water(a)(b)
	Chlorination	5	22	26	40	11	8	112	38 566
	Disinfectants	-	5	4	1	-	-	10	1 193
	Direct filtration	-	8	6	3	-	2	19	6 492
	Sedimentation or filtration	2	2	4	9	2	3	22	11 561
	Aeration	-	2	1	1	1	-	5	1 412
	Activated carbon	-	1	1	1	-	-	3	500
	Other treatments	2	6	10	6	2	1	27	6 282
Total communities treating drinking water(e)		8	31	36	45	11	10	141	46 114
Total communities not treating drinking water		17	33	8	6	3	1	68	8 725
All communities		865	123	92	71	19	17	1 187	92 960
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Excludes communities connected to town supply.
(b) Data not collected in 'administered' communities with a population of less than 50. Refer to Explanatory Notes paragraph 16 for further details.
(c) In the 12 months prior to the survey.
(d) Total includes don't know if failed testing.
(e) Components may not add to totals as more than one response may be specified.

Of the communities not connected to a town water supply in 2006, a total of 76 communities, either self administered or reporting a population of 50 or more, experienced water restrictions in the 12 months prior to the survey. A total of 25,557 people were affected by these water restrictions.

There were 182 communities that experienced water interruptions, largely due to equipment breakdown, affecting a combined population of 44,563 people. In 69 communities, water supply had been interrupted at least five times affecting a total population of 21,291 people.

3.7 Water restrictions and interruptions in discrete Indigenous communities(a)(b)(c), by reported usual population - 2006
			Communities with a population of
			Less than 50	50-99	100-199	200-499	500-999	1,000 or more	All communities	Reported usual population
			no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.
Water restrictions
	Experienced water restrictions
		Drought	7	8	12	4	1	2	34	8 267
		Normal dry season	-	4	4	6	3	3	20	8 129
		Lack of storage containment	-	3	2	2	2	2	11	6 853
		Poor water quality	-	4	3	-	-	1	8	3 634
		Other reason	3	4	5	4	1	2	19	7 222
		Total communities experienced water restrictions(d)	8	19	21	14	7	7	76	25 557
	Did not experience water restrictions		46	97	68	57	12	10	290	57 173
Water interruptions
	Experienced water interruptions
		Equipment breakdown	14	38	38	39	9	7	145	36 139
		Ran out of water	2	6	5	4	2	-	19	3 879
		Poor water quality	-	3	3	2	2	-	10	2 706
		Lack of power	-	3	6	4	4	1	18	6 825
		Planned interruption	4	18	18	16	5	5	66	18 943
		Other water interruption	3	2	1	4	1	1	12	3 235
		Total communities experienced water interruptions(d)	17	52	47	45	12	9	182	44 563
	Did not experience water interruption		37	64	42	26	7	8	184	38 167
	Frequency of water interruption
		Once	4	8	9	6	1	1	29	5 366
		Twice	2	13	8	13	1	1	38	7 403
		Three times	4	8	8	5	-	1	26	4 178
		Four times	2	4	7	3	2	2	20	6 325
		Five times or more	5	19	15	18	8	4	69	21 291
All communities			865	123	92	71	19	17	1 187	92 960
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) In the 12 months prior to the survey.
(b) Data not collected in 'administered' communities with a population of less than 50. Refer to Explanatory Notes paragraph 16 for further details.
(c) Excludes communities connected to town supply.
(d) Components may not add to totals as more than one response may be specified.

ELECTRICITY

A total of 1,049 (88%) discrete Indigenous communities reported access to an organised electricity supply. Communities with a population of less than 50 people relied on community and domestic generators, with 217 and 172 communities respectively reporting these electricity sources. A total of 275 communities, either self administered or with a population of 50 or more people, reported interruptions to the electricity supply, mainly due to storms and equipment breakdown.

3.8 Electricity supply and interruptions in discrete Indigenous communities, by reported usual population - 2006
			Communities with a population of
			Less than 50	50-99	100-199	200-499	500-999	1,000 or more	All communities	Reported usual population
			no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.
Main source of electricity
	State grid/transmitted supply		132	60	46	23	5	8	274	35 217
	Community generators		217	53	39	46	13	9	377	50 317
	Domestic generators		172	3	2	1	-	-	178	2 061
	Solar		102	3	-	-	-	-	105	1 658
	Solar hybrid		102	3	1	1	-	-	107	2 021
	Other organised electricity supply		5	1	1	-	1	-	8	1 030
	Total communities with an organised electricity supply		730	123	89	71	19	17	1 049	92 304
	Total communities with no organised electricity supply		31	-	1	-	-	-	32	284
Electricity interruptions(a)(b)
	Reason for electricity interruption
		Storms	22	46	39	37	13	11	168	45 738
		Equipment breakdown	13	45	36	39	10	7	150	39 364
		No fuel	3	10	3	1	1	-	18	2 509
		Planned outage for maintenance	8	29	32	31	11	5	116	32 848
		Vandalism	1	3	5	4	-	-	13	2 417
		System overload	7	18	15	16	1	2	59	14 235
		Other reason	2	4	4	5	2	2	19	6 743
	Total communities experienced electricity interruptions(c)		29	82	68	65	18	13	275	67 849
	Total communities experienced no electricity interruption		25	34	20	6	1	4	90	14 761
	Frequency of electricity interruption(a)(b)
		1-4 times	14	37	31	23	8	4	117	24 183
		5-9 times	7	21	19	16	3	2	68	13 867
		10-14 times	5	10	7	9	1	3	35	12 561
		15-19 times	1	4	2	5	2	-	14	3 896
		20 times or more	2	10	9	12	4	4	41	13 342
All communities			865	123	92	71	19	17	1 187	92 960
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Data not collected in 'administered' communities with a population of less than 50. Refer to Explanatory Notes paragraph 16 for further details.
(b) In the 12 months prior to the survey.
(c) Components may not add to totals as more than one response may be specified.

SEWERAGE AND OVERFLOWS/LEAKAGES

Communities connected to a town sewerage system varied in size and accounted for a total population of 32,256 people. The number of communities connected to a town system increased to 121, up by 32 (36%) communities from 89 in 2001.

Community water-borne systems also improved slightly, with 108 communities reporting the use of this system compared to 96 in 2001. Community water-borne systems involve flush toilets and closed sewerage pipe systems using gravity and pumping stations to a common sewerage treatment plant.

Septic tanks, both with common effluent disposal and leach drains, and pit toilets continue to be the main sewerage system in small communities. Of discrete Indigenous communities with a population of less than 50, a total of 554 communities reported the use of a septic system and 193 communities reported using pit toilets.

In large communities with a population of 50 or more people, a sewerage system was reported to be connected to all permanent dwellings. A total of 192 small communities with a population of less than 50 people reported that a sewerage system was not connected to all permanent dwellings, of which 69 were located in Western Australia, 61 in the Northern Territory, 51 in Queensland and 10 in South Australia (table 4.18).

In the 12 months prior to the survey, 142 communities reported sewerage overflows and leakages. Blocked drains and equipment failure accounted for the largest proportion of overflows and leakages, 95 and 62 communities respectively. The total population in communities affected by sewerage overflows and leakages was 30,140 people.

3.9 Sewerage systems in discrete Indigenous communities, by reported usual population - 2006
			Less than 50	50-99	100-199	200-499	500-999	1,000 or more	All communities	Reported usual population
			no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.
Sewerage system
	Type of sewerage system
		Connected to town system	25	36	31	11	7	11	121	32 256
		Community water-borne system	12	17	26	39	9	5	108	32 355
		Septic tanks with common effluent disposal	53	19	12	14	1	2	101	10 356
		Septic tanks with leach drain	501	51	26	13	2	-	593	18 710
		Pit toilets	193	6	2	1	-	-	202	3 703
		Pan toilets	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	4
		Other organised sewerage system	9	-	-	-	-	-	9	79
		Total communities with an organised sewerage system(a)	742	122	90	71	19	16	1 060	90 842
	Total communities with no organised sewerage system		22	1	1	-	-	1	25	1 969
Sewerage system overflows or leakages(b)(c)
	Reason for overflows or leakages
		Blocked drains	7	28	29	23	7	1	95	19 527
		Equipment failure	3	18	19	15	4	3	62	14 970
		Insufficient capacity of septic system	2	14	6	3	2	1	28	5 360
		Wet season	1	3	6	8	2	2	22	7 070
		Population increases	-	8	10	2	1	1	22	4 722
		Design or installation problems	3	15	15	7	2	1	43	7 614
		Inappropriate use	-	7	7	10	7	1	32	10 837
		Other	1	-	-	4	-	-	5	968
		Total communities experienced overflows or leakages	12	41	45	30	10	4	142	30 140
	Total communities experienced no overflows or leakages		38	74	44	41	9	13	219	52 461
	Communities with permanent dwellings affected by overflows or leakages
		No dwellings affected	1	5	4	3	3	2	18	6 520
		1-4 dwellings affected	7	17	18	11	-	-	53	6 982
		5-9 dwellings affected	3	12	5	5	6	-	31	7 054
		10 or more dwellings affected	1	7	18	11	1	2	40	9 584
		Total communities with dwellings affected by overflows or leakages	11	36	41	27	7	2	124	23 620
All communities			865	123	92	71	19	17	1 187	92 960
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Components may not add to totals as more than one response may be specified.
(b) Data not collected in 'administered' communities with a population of less than 50. Refer to Explanatory Notes paragraph 16 for further details.
(c) In the 12 months prior to the survey.