Mount Gambier

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 27,756 people in Mount Gambier of these 48.6% were male and 51.4% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 2.1% of the population.

The median age of people in Mount Gambier was 38 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 20.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.2% of the population.

Of people in Mount Gambier aged 15 years and over, 48.8% were married and 12.4% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Mount Gambier was 52 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Mount Gambier, of people aged 15 years and over, 48.7% of people were in a registered marriage and 10.7% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Mount Gambier was 51 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 32 years.

In Mount Gambier 28.1% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 36.6% were in primary school, 22.3% in secondary school and 14.8% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Mount Gambier were Australian 33.4%, English 30.3%, Scottish 7.5%, Irish 6.8% and German 5.9%.

In Mount Gambier, 86.2% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 2.6%, New Zealand 0.8%, Netherlands 0.7%, Italy 0.7% and Scotland 0.5%.

In Mount Gambier, 76.5% of people had both parents born in Australia and 14.3% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Mount Gambier were No Religion 31.2%, Catholic 21.3%, Anglican 10.5%, Uniting Church 8.1% and Presbyterian and Reformed 6.3%.

In Mount Gambier 92.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 1.1%, Karen 0.6%, Dutch 0.3%, Greek 0.2% and German 0.2%.

Employment

There were 13,757 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Mount Gambier. Of these 56.4% were employed full time, 31.3% were employed part-time and 6.6% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Mount Gambier, 12.5% worked 1 to 15 hours, 9.5% worked 16 to 24 hours and 41.0% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Mount Gambier was 42 years and for people who were employed part-time was 41 years.

The most common occupations in Mount Gambier included Technicians and Trades Workers 16.0%, Professionals 14.0%, Labourers 13.1%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 12.3%, Sales Workers 12.0%, Managers 10.8%, Community and Personal Service Workers 10.4% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 9.9%.

Of the employed people in Mount Gambier, the most common responses for industry of employment included Log Sawmilling and Timber Dressing 5.8%, School Education 5.6%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 4.4%, Road Freight Transport 3.7% and Supermarket and Grocery Stores 2.7%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Mount Gambier was $513.

In Mount Gambier, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 71.8%, Car, as passenger 6.2%, Walked only 2.7%, Truck 0.8% and Bicycle 0.7%. On the day, 0.5% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 78.4% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Mount Gambier, of people aged 15 years and over, 73.6% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 32.0% provided care for children and 11.1% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 22.8% of people did voluntary work through an organisation or a group.

Of people who did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census in Mount Gambier, 28.1% worked 5 to 14 hours, 13.9% worked 15 to 29 hours and 11.2% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Mount Gambier, 39.6% were couple families with children, 40.7% were couple families without children and 18.6% were one parent families.

In Mount Gambier 16.0% of single parents were male and 84.0% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Mount Gambier, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,885 and those without children was $1,688.

Employment status of couple families

In Mount Gambier, of couple families with children, 19.9% had both partners employed full-time, 4.0% had both employed part-time and 25.9% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Mount Gambier, 90.2% of private dwellings were occupied and 9.8% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Mount Gambier, 82.8% were separate houses, 6.0% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 10.8% were flats, units or apartments and 0.4% were other dwellings.

In Mount Gambier, of occupied private dwellings 3.1% had 1 bedroom, 18.9% had 2 bedrooms and 55.1% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3. The average household size was 2.4 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Mount Gambier, 28.7% were owned outright, 35.2% were owned with a mortgage and 31.8% were rented.

Household composition

In Mount Gambier, of all households, 67.7% were family households, 29.6% were single person households and 2.7% were group households.

In Mount Gambier, 31.4% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 3.8% of households had a weekly income of more than $3,000.

Mortgage & rent

Proportions are calculated using all tenure types for occupied private dwellings. This excludes visitor only and other non-classifiable households.

Proportions in this table are calculated by taking the number of households whose rent payments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure and expressing this number as a proportion of the total number of households in an area, including those households which are not renting their dwelling (excluding the small proportion of visitor only and other non-classifiable households). The nature of the income imputation means that the reported proportion may significantly overstate the true proportion. Further information on the method to impute income is available in the income fact sheet.

Proportions in this table are calculated by taking the number of households who own their dwelling, and whose mortgage payments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure and expressing this number as a proportion of the total number of households in an area, including those households which were renting their dwelling (excluding the small proportion of visitor only and other non-classifiable households). The nature of the income imputation means that the reported proportion may significantly overstate the true proportion. Further information on the method to impute income is available in the income fact sheet.

Number of motor vehicles

In Mount Gambier, 36.6% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 36.4% had two registered motor vehicles and 15.7% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Mount Gambier, there were 588 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 273 (or 46.4%) were male and 315 (or 53.6%) were female. The median age was 18 years.

Dwelling characteristics

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households. These tables represent occupied private dwellings where at least one Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait islander person was present.

Average number of people per bedroom includes a miscalculation. For more information see the persons per bedroom correction page.

In Mount Gambier, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 2.9, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $752.

In Mount Gambier, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $150 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,268.