Central Highlands (R)

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 28,715 people in Central Highlands (R) of these 53.6% were male and 46.4% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.6% of the population.

The median age of people in Central Highlands (R) was 31 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 24.6% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 6.1% of the population.

Of people in Central Highlands (R) aged 15 years and over, 52.8% were married and 10.8% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Central Highlands (R) was 45 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Central Highlands (R), of people aged 15 years and over, 53.4% of people were in a registered marriage and 14.2% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Central Highlands (R) was 44 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 31 years.

In Central Highlands (R) 30.4% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 33.9% were in primary school, 17.4% in secondary school and 10.6% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Central Highlands (R) were Australian 34.3%, English 27.1%, Irish 7.9%, Scottish 7.0% and German 4.6%.

In Central Highlands (R), 80.6% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 3.8%, England 1.5%, Philippines 0.8%, South Africa 0.8% and India 0.3%.

In Central Highlands (R), 77.5% of people had both parents born in Australia and 13.6% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Central Highlands (R) were Catholic 25.8%, No Religion 19.8%, Anglican 19.7%, Uniting Church 8.3% and Christian, nfd 3.6%.

In Central Highlands (R) 88.0% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Afrikaans 0.5%, Filipino 0.4%, Tagalog 0.3%, Tongan 0.3% and Shona 0.1%.

Employment

There were 15,656 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Central Highlands (R). Of these 70.7% were employed full time, 20.3% were employed part-time and 2.5% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Central Highlands (R), 7.6% worked 1 to 15 hours, 6.2% worked 16 to 24 hours and 62.4% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Central Highlands (R) was 39 years and for people who were employed part-time was 38 years.

The most common occupations in Central Highlands (R) included Machinery Operators And Drivers 19.9%, Technicians and Trades Workers 18.8%, Managers 14.6%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 11.6%, Labourers 11.4%, Professionals 10.7%, Sales Workers 5.7% and Community and Personal Service Workers 5.5%.

Of the employed people in Central Highlands (R), the most common responses for industry of employment included Coal Mining 22.3%, Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 9.0%, School Education 5.0%, Accommodation 2.8% and Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 2.7%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Central Highlands (R) was $831.

In Central Highlands (R), on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 55.9%, Car, as passenger 8.3%, Walked only 6.7%, Bus 4.1% and Truck 1.3%. On the day, 4.9% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 64.5% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Central Highlands (R), of people aged 15 years and over, 69.7% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 33.0% provided care for children and 7.0% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 24.0% 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 Central Highlands (R), 25.2% worked 5 to 14 hours, 10.8% worked 15 to 29 hours and 12.3% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Central Highlands (R), 52.9% were couple families with children, 36.8% were couple families without children and 9.2% were one parent families.

In Central Highlands (R) 25.6% of single parents were male and 74.4% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Central Highlands (R), for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,747 and those without children was $2,450.

Employment status of couple families

In Central Highlands (R), of couple families with children, 29.2% had both partners employed full-time, 1.9% had both employed part-time and 24.4% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Central Highlands (R), 79.3% of private dwellings were occupied and 20.7% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Central Highlands (R), 85.8% were separate houses, 2.9% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 6.2% were flats, units or apartments and 4.9% were other dwellings.

In Central Highlands (R), of occupied private dwellings 5.6% had 1 bedroom, 11.6% had 2 bedrooms and 42.4% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.2. The average household size was 2.8 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Central Highlands (R), 22.2% were owned outright, 29.3% were owned with a mortgage and 44.5% were rented.

Household composition

In Central Highlands (R), of all households, 76.3% were family households, 19.6% were single person households and 4.2% were group households.

In Central Highlands (R), 14.4% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 21.3% 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 Central Highlands (R), 25.7% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 39.8% had two registered motor vehicles and 27.9% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Central Highlands (R), there were 1,022 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 558 (or 54.6%) were male and 464 (or 45.4%) were female. The median age was 20 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 Central Highlands (R), for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.4, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,886.

In Central Highlands (R), for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $190 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,184.