2914.0.55.002 - 2006 Census of Population and Housing: Media Releases and Fact Sheets, 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/06/2007  First Issue
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MEDIA FACT SHEET
June 27, 2007
Embargoed 9.30 am (AEST)
70/2007
Census paints a picture of the average Australian family
  • The 2006 Census showed that the most common family type in Australia was a couple with children. Just over 45% of all families, or 2.4 million families, fell into this group. The Australian Capital Territory and Victoria had the highest proportions of families in this group.
  • Of all couple families with children, most were young families with children under 15 years (69%, or 1.6 million couple families). These families might also have included dependent students (aged 15–24 years) and non-dependent children still living with their parents.
  • Couples families with children under 15 were the most common family type in every state and territory. The Northern Territory had the highest proportion, with 80% of all couple families with children falling into this group.
  • The average number of children living in couple families with children under 15 was 2.16 children. Of the almost 4 million children living in Australia at the time of the 2006 Census, three-quarters (almost 3 million) were living in a couple family and almost all of these (2.7 million) were with both their natural or adoptive parents.
  • Nine out of 10 couple families with young children lived in a separate house with an average of 4 bedrooms. Most of these families were paying off a mortgage – almost two-thirds across Australia. The exception was in the Northern Territory where 43% of young families were renting their home.
  • The median monthly mortgage repayment for young families in a separate house was $1400. The lowest monthly repayments for young families were in Tasmania ($975 per month) and the highest in New South Wales ($1665 per month). The highest level of outright home ownership by young families in separate houses was in Victoria (18%).
  • The 2006 Census also showed that couple families with young children have 2 cars on average.
  • Exactly 83% of couple families with young children have some type of Internet connection at home. The lowest rates of connection were in the Northern Territory (66%) and the highest in the Australian Capital Territory (90%). In all states, broadband is the most common connection type. The highest use of broadband was in the Australian Capital Territory (69% of young families).

NB: The figures in this fact sheet exclude overseas visitors. Where an answer to a question has not been provided (i.e. not stated) these occurrences form a separate category in the data and therefore some percentages do not total to 100%.

Source: ABS 2006 Census.

Table 1. 2006 Census: Family types
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.
%
Couple family with no children
36.0
35.9
39.1
40.0
38.3
40.5
32.5
36.2
37.2
Couple family with children
46.2
46.9
43.3
42.3
45.1
41.4
46.5
47.0
45.3
One parent family
16.1
15.4
15.9
16.1
14.8
16.7
19.1
15.1
15.8
Other family
1.7
1.9
1.7
1.6
1.7
1.4
1.9
1.6
1.7
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
'000
Total families (000)
1 716.2
1 294.4
1 032.0
407.5
511.9
128.7
43.4
84.5
5 219.2

Table 2. 2006 Census: Couple families with children
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.
%
Couple family with children aged under 15 years with and without dependent students
67.9
67.0
72.0
67.7
70.6
70.4
80.1
69.0
68.9
Couple family with no children aged under 15 years
32.1
33.0
28.0
32.3
29.4
29.6
19.9
31.0
31.1
'000
Number of couple families with children aged under 15 years
538.3
406.3
321.6
116.7
162.9
37.5
16.1
27.4
1 627.2
Total couple families with children
792.7
606.5
446.7
172.4
230.7
53.3
20.2
39.7
2 362.6

Table 3. 2006 Census: Proportion of Couple families with children aged under 15 years who live in a separate house
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
Separate house
84.5
90.6
93.8
93.8
94.4
97.0
91.1
91.5
90.0

Table 4. 2006 Census: Average number of bedrooms in separate houses containing couple families with - children aged under 15 years
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.
Average no. of bedrooms
4.1
4.0
4.1
3.9
4.3
3.9
3.8
4.2
4.1

Table 5. 2006 Census: Tenure type for couple families with children aged under 15 years living in a separate house
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
Fully owned
16.6
18.0
13.9
17.2
15.0
17.4
8.1
14.6
16.2
Being purchased
63.1
66.2
60.4
65.6
63.1
63.3
43.0
66.2
63.4
Rented
17.8
13.3
23.2
14.8
19.2
16.7
43.4
17.8
17.9
Other tenure types
1.4
1.2
1.5
1.4
1.6
1.6
3.9
0.6
1.4
Not stated
1.2
1.3
1.0
1.0
1.1
1.0
1.6
0.7
1.2
Total
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

Table 6. 2006 Census: Monthly mortgage repayments for couple families with children aged under 15 years living in a separate house
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.
Median monthly home loan repayment ($)
1 665
1 300
1 347
1 100
1 300
975
1 441
1 620
1 400

Table 7. 2006 Census: Average number of cars for couple families with children aged under 15 years
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.
Average no. of cars
1.9
2.1
2.0
2.1
2.1
2.1
1.7
2.0
2.0

Table 8. 2006 Census: Internet arrangements of couple families with children aged under 15 years
NSW
Vic
Qld
SA
WA
Tas
NT
ACT
Aust
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
No Internet connection
14.6
15.3
15.4
17.8
15.0
21.6
31.6
9.0
15.5
Total with Internet connection
83.6
83.0
83.3
80.9
83.5
77.1
66.1
90.2
83.0
Broadband connection
58.4
58.3
56.5
44.6
57.5
43.0
39.2
68.9
56.6
Dial-up connection
24.8
24.3
26.4
35.8
25.5
33.7
26.3
21.0
26.0
Other connection
0.5
0.4
0.4
0.5
0.4
0.4
0.5
0.3
0.4