South Canberra

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 24,154 people in South Canberra of these 48.9% were male and 51.1% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.5% of the population.

The median age of people in South Canberra was 39 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 14.8% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 14.9% of the population.

Of people in South Canberra aged 15 years and over, 44.7% were married and 10.1% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in South Canberra was 52 years and the median age of people never married was 27 years.

In South Canberra, of people aged 15 years and over, 45.0% of people were in a registered marriage and 11.1% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in South Canberra was 51 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 34 years.

In South Canberra 30.7% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 21.5% were in primary school, 21.4% in secondary school and 31.0% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in South Canberra were English 24.9%, Australian 24.2%, Irish 10.4%, Scottish 8.0% and German 3.1%.

In South Canberra, 70.4% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 4.7%, New Zealand 1.5%, India 1.3%, United States of America 1.1% and Italy 0.9%.

In South Canberra, 53.2% of people had both parents born in Australia and 31.4% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in South Canberra were No Religion 30.8%, Catholic 24.3%, Anglican 16.9%, Uniting Church 3.3% and Eastern Orthodox 2.5%.

In South Canberra 79.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 1.4%, French 1.2%, Greek 1.1%, Mandarin 1.0% and Cantonese 0.7%.

Employment

There were 13,807 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in South Canberra. Of these 68.2% were employed full time, 22.7% were employed part-time and 3.3% were unemployed.

Of employed people in South Canberra, 9.0% worked 1 to 15 hours, 6.8% worked 16 to 24 hours and 53.3% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in South Canberra was 41 years and for people who were employed part-time was 41 years.

The most common occupations in South Canberra included Professionals 40.7%, Managers 20.2%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 15.2%, Community and Personal Service Workers 7.0%, Technicians and Trades Workers 6.0%, Sales Workers 4.9%, Labourers 2.6% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 1.1%.

Of the employed people in South Canberra, the most common responses for industry of employment included Central Government Administration 23.1%, Defence 7.0%, Legal and Accounting Services 3.7%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.7% and Tertiary Education 3.7%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in South Canberra was $1,172.

In South Canberra, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 60.9%, Car, as passenger 6.6%, Walked only 6.3%, Bus 4.9% and Bicycle 3.2%. On the day, 5.7% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 67.7% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In South Canberra, of people aged 15 years and over, 77.6% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 23.3% provided care for children and 10.8% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 24.7% 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 South Canberra, 31.0% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.0% worked 15 to 29 hours and 6.9% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in South Canberra, 40.3% were couple families with children, 45.4% were couple families without children and 12.8% were one parent families.

In South Canberra 21.4% of single parents were male and 78.6% were female.

Weekly incomes

In South Canberra, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $3,779 and those without children was $3,235.

Employment status of couple families

In South Canberra, of couple families with children, 32.0% had both partners employed full-time, 3.7% had both employed part-time and 19.0% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In South Canberra, 87.4% of private dwellings were occupied and 12.6% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in South Canberra, 54.9% were separate houses, 10.1% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 34.9% were flats, units or apartments and 0.0% were other dwellings.

In South Canberra, of occupied private dwellings 7.8% had 1 bedroom, 30.0% had 2 bedrooms and 34.2% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.9. The average household size was 2.3 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in South Canberra, 30.2% were owned outright, 26.6% were owned with a mortgage and 40.6% were rented.

Household composition

In South Canberra, of all households, 62.0% were family households, 30.6% were single person households and 7.5% were group households.

In South Canberra, 13.4% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 31.5% 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 South Canberra, 40.7% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 35.9% had two registered motor vehicles and 12.4% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In South Canberra, there were 360 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 180 (or 50.0%) were male and 180 (or 50.0%) were female. The median age was 23 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 South Canberra, 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 $1,211.

In South Canberra, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $340 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,938.