INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides an overview of the social and living conditions of the people living within the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). It presents a range of population statistics (e.g. size, composition, distribution etc.) to enable analysis of a number of social and economic issues that may affect the sustainability of rural and regional communities within the MDB.
The chapter is divided into four main sections: population characteristics, education, work and farmers in the MDB. Together these provide an indication of social wellbeing in the MDB, and enable comparisons with national level statistics.
All data presented in this chapter are from ABS Censuses of Population and Housing and relate to where people usually live. Census data are used as Census Collection Districts allow better aggregation to the MDB geographic area than other data sources such as Estimated Resident Population or ABS household survey estimates. Census data do however have some limitations. See Explanatory Notes for more detail.
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