Western Australia

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 2,239,170 people in Western Australia of these 50.3% were male and 49.7% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.1% of the population.

The median age of people in Western Australia was 36 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 19.7% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.3% of the population.

Of people in Western Australia aged 15 years and over, 48.7% were married and 11.4% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Western Australia was 49 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Western Australia, of people aged 15 years and over, 49.2% of people were in a registered marriage and 11.0% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Western Australia was 49 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 34 years.

In Western Australia 30.4% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 27.7% were in primary school, 18.2% in secondary school and 20.7% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Western Australia were English 29.0%, Australian 24.8%, Irish 6.4%, Scottish 6.4% and Italian 3.8%.

In Western Australia, 62.9% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 8.6%, New Zealand 3.2%, South Africa 1.6%, India 1.3% and Scotland 1.2%.

In Western Australia, 43.8% of people had both parents born in Australia and 41.4% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Western Australia were No Religion 25.5%, Catholic 23.6%, Anglican 18.8%, Uniting Church 3.3% and Christian, nfd 2.8%.

In Western Australia 79.3% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 1.4%, Mandarin 1.3%, Cantonese 0.8%, Vietnamese 0.7% and Arabic 0.5%.

Employment

There were 1,152,200 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Western Australia. Of these 60.7% were employed full time, 28.1% were employed part-time and 4.7% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Western Australia, 10.8% worked 1 to 15 hours, 9.2% worked 16 to 24 hours and 47.9% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Western Australia was 40 years and for people who were employed part-time was 40 years.

The most common occupations in Western Australia included Professionals 19.9%, Technicians and Trades Workers 16.7%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 14.4%, Managers 12.2%, Labourers 9.7%, Community and Personal Service Workers 9.4%, Sales Workers 8.6% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 7.6%.

Of the employed people in Western Australia, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 5.1%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 4.1%, Metal Ore Mining 3.3%, Hospitals 3.2% and Architectural, Engineering and Technical Services 2.7%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Western Australia was $662.

In Western Australia, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 60.4%, Car, as passenger 5.8%, Bus 3.7%, Walked only 3.3% and Train 2.2%. On the day, 9.4% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 66.4% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Western Australia, of people aged 15 years and over, 69.8% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 28.2% provided care for children and 9.3% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 16.9% 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 Western Australia, 25.6% worked 5 to 14 hours, 11.7% worked 15 to 29 hours and 10.4% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Western Australia, 44.9% were couple families with children, 38.8% were couple families without children and 14.5% were one parent families.

In Western Australia 18.0% of single parents were male and 82.0% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Western Australia, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,497 and those without children was $2,257.

Employment status of couple families

In Western Australia, of couple families with children, 20.8% had both partners employed full-time, 3.8% had both employed part-time and 22.0% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Western Australia, 87.9% of private dwellings were occupied and 12.1% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Western Australia, 80.4% were separate houses, 10.6% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 7.9% were flats, units or apartments and 0.9% were other dwellings.

In Western Australia, of occupied private dwellings 3.6% had 1 bedroom, 13.0% had 2 bedrooms and 39.3% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.3. The average household size was 2.6 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Western Australia, 29.5% were owned outright, 37.8% were owned with a mortgage and 29.2% were rented.

Household composition

In Western Australia, of all households, 72.2% were family households, 23.8% were single person households and 4.0% were group households.

In Western Australia, 21.1% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 14.1% 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 Western Australia, 32.6% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 38.5% had two registered motor vehicles and 20.0% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Western Australia, there were 69,664 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 34,418 (or 49.4%) were male and 35,246 (or 50.6%) were female. The median age was 22 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 Western Australia, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.5, with 1.3 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,043.

In Western Australia, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $158 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,733.