QUEENSLAND


TOTAL POPULATION

The estimated resident population of Queensland at 30 June 2007 was 4.18 million. This represented an increase of 90,500 people since 30 June 2006, at an annual growth rate of 2.2%.

In June 2007, south-east Queensland, comprising the SDs of Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and West Moreton, was home to 2.77 million people, or two-thirds of Queensland's population. This was an increase of 64,200 people since June 2006, at an annual growth rate (2.4%) which was faster than that of the state.

Reversing its trend over the last five years, North West SD experienced a slight population increase (120 people) in the year to June 2007.

In the following commentary, when comparing SLAs, unless otherwise stated, this summary excludes those with a population of less than 2,000 as at June 2007.


AGE AND SEX DISTRIBUTION

Compared with the remainder of the state, south-east Queensland had a lower proportion of its population aged less than 15 years and a higher proportion of its population aged 20-39 years. Nevertheless, south-east Queensland had at least 64% of the state's population in every five-year age group.

MEDIAN AGE

In June 2007, the median age of the Queensland population was 36.2 years. The median age for males was 35.6 years compared with 36.8 years for females. Among Queensland SDs, the highest median age was recorded in Wide Bay-Burnett SD (42.0 years), while the lowest was recorded in North West SD which, at 30.3 years, was more than three-and-a-half years lower than the median age of any other Queensland SD.

Although the median age for south-east Queensland (36.1 years) was similar to that of the remainder of the state (36.4 years), there was wide variation in median age at the small area level. The eight SLAs with the highest median age (each above 46 years) were all in the south-east corner, including Bribie Island, which had the highest median age of all SLAs in Australia (at 55.1 years).

Excluding SLAs with populations of less than 2,000, there were 21 SLAs in Queensland with a median age of less than 30 years. The lowest was recorded in Yarrabah (S) at 21.6 years. About half of the 'youthful' SLAs were within Brisbane SD, mostly in inner Brisbane or close to higher education institutions (including St Lucia, Kelvin Grove, Toowong, Indooroopilly and Taringa). Six were in Northern SD, three of which were in Townsville (C).


CHILDREN (UNDER 15 YEARS OF AGE)

At June 2007, children (people aged 0-14 years) represented 20.2% of the Queensland population, which was the second-highest proportion in the country (following the Northern Territory, 24.1%). South-east Queensland had a lower proportion of children (19.5%) compared with that of the remainder of the state (21.6%).

The three SLAs with the highest proportions of children (each with over 30.5%), also had a high proportion of Indigenous people. These were Yarrabah (S), Palm Island (S) and Torres (S) - all located in the north of the state. With less than 5% of their population aged under 15, the adjoining inner-city Brisbane SLAs of Fortitude Valley, City - Inner and City - Remainder had the lowest proportions of children in the state.


WORKING AGE POPULATION (AGED 15-64 YEARS)

Over two-thirds (67.6%) of the Queensland population were of working age (15-64 years) in June 2007. Mackay (69.2%) and Brisbane (69.1%) SDs had the highest proportion of people of working age. Wide Bay-Burnett (62.5%) and Darling Downs (64.1%) SDs had the lowest proportions.

Two SLAs had more than 90% of their population of working age: City - Remainder and Fortitude Valley. The 16 SLAs which had more than 80% of their population of working age were all located in cities - 13 were in Brisbane (C), two were in Townsville (C) and one was in Cairns (C).

The SLAs with the lowest proportion of working-age residents (each with less than 60%) were Bribie Island (Brisbane SD), Inglewood (S) (Darling Downs SD), Monto (S) (Wide Bay-Burnett SD) and Hinchinbrook (S) (Northern SD).


PEOPLE AGED 65 YEARS AND OVER

Just over half a million Queenslanders (511,500 or 12.2%) were aged 65 years or older in June 2007. Of the 21 SLAs with more than 20% of their population in this age group, 15 were in south-east Queensland, of which Bribie Island had the highest proportion (31.8%).

The mining town of Weipa (T) had the lowest proportion of people aged 65 or over with 1.5% and five of the nine Bowen Basin mining SLAs had less than 4% of their residents in the older age group.

SEX RATIO

In June 2007, the sex ratio (number of males per 100 females) for Queensland was 99.7. The sex ratio for south-east Queensland (98.0) was noticeably lower than that of the remainder of the state (103.1). In Queensland, there were more males than females in each five-year age group from 0 to 29 years. From 30 to 54 years females out-numbered males but this changed for ages 55 to 69. Females again out-numbered males in the older population (those aged 70 years or more), reflecting the longer life expectancy of women.

The highest sex ratio was recorded in the SLA of Wacol (183.7), which contains a large male prison. This was followed by the mining SLA of Nebo (S) (144.3), and City (135.8) in Townsville (C). Within Brisbane (C), the SLAs with the highest sex ratios were Fortitude Valley and City - Inner (both higher than 125.0).

The five SLAs with the lowest sex ratios were all located in Brisbane (C). From lowest to highest, these were Chermside, Albion, Mount Ommaney, Taigum-Fitzgibbon and Kenmore Hills, with sex ratios ranging from 82.7 to 86.8.

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER COUNCILS

Note: This section describes the data for the 34 discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Councils in Queensland. In June 2007, all but two of these had a population of less than 2,000, and were therefore excluded from the above discussion of SLAs. However, the population of these areas shows notable differences in age profile when compared with the total Queensland population.

The median age of these SLAs at June 2007 was 23.5 years, substantially lower than the median age for Queensland as a whole (36.2 years). For all 34 councils, more than one-quarter of their population were children (aged 0-14 years), while for 22 of these SLAs, more than one-third of the population were children. For Queensland overall, just over one-fifth of the population (20.2%) were aged 0-14 years. For all but 10 of the 34 SLAs, older people (aged 65 years or more) accounted for less than 5% of the population, compared with 12.2% for Queensland overall.