SOUTH AUSTRALIAN STATISTICAL NEWS AND RELEASES
ABS NEWS AND RELEASES
SA Stats (cat. no. 1345.4)
SA Stats provides an overview of the state's population and economy. This publication is updated on a monthly basis, with most releases also containing a feature article on socio-economic and environmental issues of interest.
SA Stats, September 2009
The September feature article looks at one parent families with dependent children in South Australia. The article examines the characteristics of this type of family using data from the Census of Population and Housing. One parent families are often considered to be at a higher risk of social and economic disadvantage, especially in terms of income, employment and housing. Over the last decade, one parent families with dependent children have increased as a proportion of all families in South Australia.
SA Stats, October 2009
In October, SA Stats includes an article focused on people not in the Labour Force. Using data from a variety of sources, the article looks at the recent trend and changing composition of people not in the labour force in South Australia and examines the various factors that may influence a person's ability and willingness to enter the workforce.
SA Stats, November 2009
This month's SA Stats includes an article on crime and safety in South Australia. Feelings of safety and security can contribute to the well-being of individuals and communities. Using data from a variety of ABS sources, this article presents a comparison of the perceptions of crime and safety that are held by South Australians with those of the broader Australian community and highlights some factors that have the potential to influence perceptions. Further, it examines the relationship between perceptions of safety and the actual incidence of crime in South Australia.
New edition of Australian Social Trends
The ABS released the latest edition of Australian Social Trends (cat. no. 4102.0) on 10 December 2009. The publication draws together a wide range of statistics from the ABS and other official sources to provide a picture of Australian society and how it is changing over time.
The latest edition features six articles:
- Patterns in work
- Living alone
- Jobless families
- Smoking, risky drinking and obesity
- Preschool attendance
- International comparisons
The release also includes indicator spreadsheets presenting national and state summary data on housing and family and community as well as summary data comparing Australia with a number of other countries on a range of population, health, education and labour indicators.
The publication shows that:
- The average loan for first home buyers in South Australia more than tripled from $77,500 in 1998 to $235,600 in 2009. This reflects a nationwide trend. However, the average first home loan in South Australia in 2009 was considerably lower than the national average of $269,300.
- South Australians are more likely to be living alone than people in any other state or territory. In 2008, 10.3% of South Australians aged 15-64 years lived alone compared to with 8.7% nationwide. This proportion has been on the rise across the country (from 7.7% in 1998 to 8.7% in 2008) but has been relatively stable in South Australia over the past decade.
- The proportion of South Australian families with children aged under 15 years in which both parents were employed increased by 11 percentage points to 65% in the 10 years to 2008. There was a similar trend, though not as marked, across the country, with the national proportion increasing by six percentage points to 62%.
- Over the same period, the proportion of couple families with children aged under 15 years in which neither parent was employed decreased 4 percentage points to 5%. This was slightly above the national average in 2008 (4.3%).
Australian households embrace recycling - e-waste an exception
Almost every Australian household (99.3%) participated in some form of recycling or reusing of waste, according to
Environmental Issues: Waste Management and Transport Use, March 2009 (cat. no. 4602.0.55.002). The publication presents data on household recycling and reuse of waste, methods of disposal of hazardous waste and use/non-use of private and public transport. Household attitudes on maintaining and purchasing motor vehicles are also included. Some results from similar past surveys (1996, 2000, 2003 and 2006) have been included in the publication for purposes of comparison.
Other results include:
- Australians increased their use of public transport to get to work or full-time study over the past decade, rising from 12.2% in 2000 to 14.0% in 2009. South Australians increased their public transport use from 7.9% to 12.2% over the same period. Victoria had the highest level of public transport use in 2009 at 17.4%.
- However, the overwhelming majority of Australians still usually travelled to their place of work or study by car; 79.6% in March 2009 (81.0% in SA) compared to 81.9% in 2000 (85.0% in SA).
- In 2009, 74.1% of South Australians recycled garden waste, the highest of any state or territory. 65.0% of all Australians recycled garden waste.
AFL, netball and swimming top sports for SA children
Data on a range of cultural and recreational activities, including participation in organised sports and use of the Internet, is presented in
Children's Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities, Australia, Apr 2009 (cat. no. 4901.0). Children aged from 5 to 14 years inclusive are covered and both state and national data are presented.
Findings for SA include:
- Two thirds (66.3%) of children in SA participated in at least one organised sport, the third highest rate after the ACT (71.3%) and Victoria (68.5%).
- Australian Rules football, swimming and netball were the most highly attended organised sports events in SA. In contrast, swimming, soccer (outdoor) and other organised sports were the most highly attended by children across Australia.
- Rates for accessing the internet and having a mobile phone were similar between SA and Australia. Over three quarters of children (78.6% SA and 79.4% Australia) had accessed the internet and almost a third (31.0% SA and 30.9% Australia) had a mobile phone.
Australia's love of motorcycles continues to grow
Motor Vehicle Census, 31 March 2009 (cat. no. 9309.0) presents statistics relating to vehicles which were registered with a motor vehicle registration authority. Motor vehicle registration statistics are compiled from data made available by various state and territory motor vehicle registration authorities and reflect the information as recorded in registration documents.
Statistics are provided on vehicle types comprising passenger vehicles, campervans, light commercial vehicles, all types of trucks, buses and motorcycles.
Vehicle characteristic information includes make of vehicle, year of manufacture, type of fuel that the vehicle was registered as using, and Gross Vehicle Mass or Gross Combination Mass for trucks. The size of the motor vehicle fleet is also compared with the estimated resident population.
Findings include:
- Motorcycle popularity in Australia continued to grow at a faster rate than any other vehicle type in the twelve months to March 2009, with registrations up by 10.0% (12.9% for SA). Motorcycle (including scooter) registrations have increased by 57.5% over the five years to 2009 (51.8% for SA).
- For the five years to 31 March 2009, the Australian fleet size grew by 15.8% for the nation. SA's registrations grew by 10.3% over this period, the smallest growth rate of all states and territories. WA had the highest growth rate of 23.5%.
- SA had 747 motor vehicles per 1,000 residents at 31 March 2009. Western Australia had the highest rate of all states and territories with 822 vehicles per 1,000 residents, while the Northern Territory had the lowest rate with 577 vehicles per 1,000 residents.
- Average age of passenger vehicles in SA was 10.9 years in 2009, slightly older than the Australian average of 9.7 years.
NON ABS RELEASES
State of South Australia: From Crisis to Prosperity? Australian Institute for Social Research
Edited by Associate Professor John Spoehr
This book examines the state's prospects of economic recovery from the global financial crisis, analysing key challenges facing the state.
Issues covered by more than 25 contributors to the book include: the state's changing population, Aboriginal policy, gender, health, education, industrial relations, law and order, social inclusion, the arts, environment, urban planning and infrastructure. The book contains analyses in each of these areas which point to the state's prospects of economic recovery in the context of the global economy.
State of Ageing in South Australia. A report to the South Australian Office for the Ageing
This report is a statistical snapshot of South Australia's older population and provides valuable information about what an ageing population means for the state. South Australia's population is older than the nation as a whole and it is expected this pattern will continue to at least 2051.
The report identifies implications and opportunities which will influence policy and service direction for both Government and non-Government sectors as the population ages. The following topics are covered:
- Older population structure and location
- Families and living situations
- Labour market
- Income and wealth
- Health
- Older carers
- Community Connections: social inclusion, volunteerism and social capital
- Indigenous ageing
- Older people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
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