People in Australia who were born in Papua New Guinea

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 26,787 people in Australia who were born in Papua New Guinea. Of these 44.8% were male and 55.2% were female.

Of the population born in Papua New Guinea who usually live in Australia, 6.8% were aged 0 - 14 years and 6.0% were aged 65 years and over. The median age of people in Australia who were born in Papua New Guinea was 41 years.

Of people in Australia aged 15 years and over who were born in Papua New Guinea, 51.1% were married, 4.0% were separated, and 8.8% were divorced.

Of people who usually live in Australia and who were born in Papua New Guinea the median age of married people was 44 years. Of people never married, the median age was 34 years.

Of the population born in Papua New Guinea who usually live in Australia, 20.3% were attending an educational institution. There were 3.9% in primary school, 4.2% in secondary school and 8.5% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

In Australia of people who were born in Papua New Guinea, 14.3% arrived in Australia from 2006 - 2011 and 5.6% from 2001 - 2005.

In Australia of people who were born in Papua New Guinea, 78.7% were Australian citizens.

In Australia of people who were born in Papua New Guinea and had a spouse or partner, 33.5% had a spouse or partner who was born overseas and 62.0% had a spouse or partner born in Australia.

In Australia of people who were born in Papua New Guinea, the most common responses to the religion question were Catholic 32.1%, No Religion 16.4%, Anglican 12.3%, Uniting Church 10.8% and Lutheran 4.3%.

In Australia of people who were born in Papua New Guinea, 76.4% spoke English only at home. A further 21.9% spoke another language but also spoke English very well or well.

Employment

In Australia of people who were born in Papua New Guinea and who were in the labour force, 61.1% worked full-time, 27.2% worked part-time and 6.0% were unemployed.

In Australia of people who were born in Papua New Guinea and who were employed, 47.7% worked 40 hours or more per week and 17.3% worked 35-39 hours per week.

In Australia of people who were born in Papua New Guinea the median age for those who were employed full-time was 41, while the median age for those employed part-time was 41.

In Australia of people who were born in Papua New Guinea, the most common responses for occupation were Professionals 26.0%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 15.8%, Managers 12.5%, Technicians and Trades Workers 11.4% and Community and Personal Service Workers 10.9%.

In Australia of people who were born in Papua New Guinea, the most common responses for industry of employment were School Education 6.2%, Hospitals 4.4%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 2.8%, Residential Care Services 2.7% and State Government Administration 2.6%.

In Australia of people who were born in Papua New Guinea, the personal weekly median income was $726. Family median weekly income was $1,884 and Household median weekly income was $1,749.

Family and Household are determined for the selected country of birth, 'All overseas born' and 'Australian born' by the Reference Person and/or their spouse/partner's response to country of birth. See explanatory notes for more information.

In Australia 63.8% of employed people who were born in Papua New Guinea, travelled to work on census day by car, while 8.6% travelled by bus or train.

In Australia 79.7% of people who were born in Papua New Guinea did unpaid domestic work in the week before the census, and 40.6% cared for a child or children in the two weeks before the census.

In Australia of people who were born in Papua New Guinea and who did unpaid domestic work in the week before the census, 30.6% worked 5 to 14 hours, 13.4% worked 15 to 29 hours and 11.0% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

For important information on how migrant families are classified, please see the explanatory notes

These statistics are for families in Australia. They are for families where the reference person was born in Papua New Guinea and also include households where the reference person was born in Australia, or did not state their country of birth, but had a partner or spouse who was born in Papua New Guinea. Of these families, 59.0% were couple families with children, 26.6% were couple families without children and 13.3% were one parent families.

Weekly incomes

These statistics are for families in Australia. They are for families where the reference person was born in Papua New Guinea and also include households where the reference person was born in Australia, or did not state their country of birth, but had a partner or spouse who was born in Papua New Guinea. Of these families, the median weekly income for families without children was $2,232 and for families with children the median weekly income was $2,432.

Employment status of couple families

These statistics are for families in Australia. They are for families where the reference person was born in Papua New Guinea and also include households where the reference person was born in Australia, or did not state their country of birth, but had a partner or spouse who was born in Papua New Guinea. Of these families, 24.3% of families had both parents working full-time, 26.1% of families had one parent working full-time and one parent working part-time, and 9.6% of families stated that both parents were not working.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

For important information on how migrant households are classified, please see the explanatory notes

These statistics are for occupied private dwellings in Australia. For the dwellings that were occupied on census night by a person or persons who were born in Papua New Guinea, 79.2% were a separate house, 11.8% were a flat, unit or apartment, and 8.3% were a semi-detached, row or terrace house, townhouse etc.

These statistics are for occupied private dwellings in Australia. For the dwellings that were occupied on census night by a person or persons who were born in Papua New Guinea, 14.8% had two bedrooms, 40.4% had three bedrooms and 40.1% had four or more bedrooms.

Mortgage & rent

These statistics are for occupied private dwellings in Australia. For the dwellings that were occupied on census night by a person or persons who were born in Papua New Guinea, 22.4% were owned outright, 42.4% were owned with a mortgage and 33.3% were rented. The median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,950 and the median weekly rent paid was $300.

Household composition

All occupants of a private dwelling complete one census form and are counted as a household. 'People born in Papua New Guinea' includes households in Australia where at least one person was born in Papua New Guinea. Of those households, 80.4% were one family households and 12.3% were lone person households.