QUEENSLAND


AN ANALYSIS OF SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF ROSSLEA - A HIGH POPULATION TURNOVER STATISTICAL LOCAL AREA

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Introduction

Rosslea: Characteristics of the area and usual residents

People who arrived in, departed or did not move from Rosslea


Introduction

In Queensland, the five Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) with the greatest population turnover were all in urban areas. This chapter presents some data for these five SLAs (see Table 4.1), then discusses the characteristics of one SLA as an example. In Queensland, Rosslea was chosen as an example of an area which had the largest population turnover (118.9%) of all SLAs in this state but which recorded a decrease in its number of usual residents.

To view an image of this SLA via Google Maps Australia please click on the following link: Rosslea.

TABLE 4.1. HIGH POPULATION TURNOVER SLAs - Queensland
	2001 Census count(a)	2006 Census count	Census count change	Arrivals(b)	Departures(c)	Net migration(c)	Population flow(c)	Population turnover(c)
SLA(d)	psns	psns	psns	psns	psns	psns	psns	%
Rosslea	1 582	1 447	-135	786	690	96	1 476	118.9
Milton	1 537	1 728	191	981	708	273	1 689	115.8
Vincent	2 632	2 589	-43	1 106	1 259	-153	2 365	115.1
Spring Hill	3 572	5 235	1 663	2 692	1 347	1 345	4 039	114.0
Kelvin Grove	4 029	4 382	353	2 459	1 651	808	4 110	113.5
(a) Based on 2006 Census boundaries
(b) Excludes people aged 0-4 years and those who did not state where they lived 5 years ago
(c) Excludes people aged 0-4 years, those who did not state where they lived 5 years ago, and overseas departures, meaning these data are estimated on a different basis than the 2006 Census count (for further information about how Population turnover is calculated, refer to Explanatory Note 14)
(d) Excludes unincorporated areas and SLAs with a population of less than 500 people
Source: Census of Population and Housing, 2006 and Census of Population and Housing, 2001
Note: This table is based on place of usual residence. Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data.

Rosslea: Characteristics of the area and usual residents

The Rosslea SLA is a suburb of Townsville, Far North Queensland and is located approximately 5 kilometres from the city centre. This SLA is situated within a few kilometres of the Lavarack Army Barracks, Townsville Hospital, James Cook University (Townsville Campus) and the RAAF Base Townsville.

As well as having the highest population turnover in Queensland, Rosslea also featured in the twenty highest turnover SLAs in Australia.

Housing and households

At the 2006 Census more than 60% (62.1%) of occupied private dwellings within this SLA were rented, compared with 29.0% in Australia. A high proportion of occupied private dwellings in Rosslea were lone person households (43.0%) or group households (10.2%), compared with 24.4% and 3.9% respectively for Australia.

Housing costs tended to be lower in Rosslea than in Australia. The median weekly rent in Rosslea was $170, compared with $190 in Australia. Median monthly housing loan repayments in Rosslea were also lower than in Australia ($1,105 and $1,300 respectively).

Age and employment

The median age of residents in this SLA was 33 years, compared with 37 years for Australia.

The industry division (using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006) that recorded the highest proportion of employed residents in Rosslea was Public administration and safety (13.0% or 101 people). Within this group 46.5% or 47 people worked in Defence. This is consistent with Rosslea's proximity to the Lavarack Army Barracks in a nearby SLA.


People who arrived in, departed or did not move from Rosslea

Following is a discussion of the characteristics of three populations relating to Rosslea: arrivals to the SLA within the five years to the 2006 Census; departures from the SLA within the same time period; and those who did not move SLA.

At the 2006 Census, 63.6% of the usual residents of Rosslea (excluding people aged 0-4 years and those who did not state where they lived five years ago) were new arrivals to the SLA (i.e. arrived within the last five years). Most (81.8%) of these arrivals were from within Queensland, just over 15% were from interstate and 2.9% were from overseas. The majority of departures (88.6%) moved to other SLAs in Queensland (this analysis excludes departures overseas, which are unable to be counted using Census data).

Age

The highest proportions of arrivals and departures were aged 15-29 years. In comparison, the most common age group of people who had not moved SLAs was 45-59 years, with almost one in four people who had not moved SLA.

The 15-29 year age group represented 45.8% of arrivals and 36.3% of departures (see Graphs 4.1 and 4.2). Both lower housing costs in Rosslea and the close proximity to James Cook University (Townsville Campus) may be factors drawing in the younger age groups.

Employment

A high proportion of arrivals and departures, aged 15 years and over, were in the labour force (82.6% and 79.8% respectively), compared with people who had not moved SLA (55.8%).

The industry division (using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006) that recorded the highest proportion of employed arrivals was Public administration and safety (12.9% or 72 people). Most (59.4%) of those in this industry were working in Defence. People in this industry may have been employed at the Lavarack Army Barracks or the RAAF Base Townsville, which are in nearby SLAs.

Interestingly, the top industries of employment for employed arrivals from the remainder of Queensland were Retail trade and Heath care and social assistance, both recording 13.1%. Public administration and safety was the industry which recorded the highest proportions of employed departures and people who had not moved SLA (15.0% and 12.5% respectively).

Income and education

More than 25% of departures aged 15 years and over earned $1,000 or more per week, compared with 21.9% of arrivals and 17.0% of people who had not moved SLA.

An even higher proportion (around 30%) of people departing interstate earned $1,000 or more per week. A contributing factor to this may have been the high proportion of interstate departures aged 15 years and over with a Bachelor degree or higher. More than 40% of (or 27) people aged 15 years and over who departed for interstate, had a Bachelor degree or higher, compared with 25.8% of (or 134) people who departed to other Queensland SLAs.

Of those who did not move SLA, only 11.3% of people aged 15 years and over had a Bachelor degree or higher.

Please note: All data presented in this publication relate to person or dwelling characteristics at the time of the 2006 Census. As arrivals and departures may have moved at any time in the five years to the 2006 Census their characteristics could have been different at the time of their migration. The data presented also only captures a person's place of usual residence at the 2006 Census and five years prior to the Census (where they have answered that question). People could have moved residence numerous times between these time periods. Arrivals estimates exclude people who did not state where they lived five years ago, and those who were under the age of 5 at the time of the 2006 Census. In addition to those exclusions, estimates of departures also exclude overseas departures (as these people were not enumerated in the Census). To be consistent with the conceptual basis of the arrivals and departures estimates, the adjusted Census count used in calculating population turnover also excludes 0-4 year olds and people who did not state where they lived five years ago.