Western Downs (R)

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 31,590 people in Western Downs (R) of these 51.5% were male and 48.5% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.5% of the population.

The median age of people in Western Downs (R) was 37 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 23.4% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 14.1% of the population.

Of people in Western Downs (R) aged 15 years and over, 53.1% were married and 11.2% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Western Downs (R) was 50 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Western Downs (R), of people aged 15 years and over, 54.0% 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 Western Downs (R) was 50 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 34 years.

In Western Downs (R) 28.7% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 34.5% were in primary school, 20.0% in secondary school and 9.4% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Western Downs (R) were Australian 34.4%, English 28.1%, Irish 8.5%, German 7.6% and Scottish 7.3%.

In Western Downs (R), 86.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 1.4%, England 1.3%, Philippines 0.7%, South Africa 0.5% and Germany 0.2%.

In Western Downs (R), 84.7% of people had both parents born in Australia and 8.1% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Western Downs (R) were Anglican 23.5%, Catholic 23.3%, No Religion 13.9%, Presbyterian and Reformed 7.4% and Uniting Church 6.5%.

In Western Downs (R) 90.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Afrikaans 0.3%, Tagalog 0.3%, Filipino 0.3%, German 0.1% and Hindi 0.1%.

Employment

There were 15,075 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Western Downs (R). Of these 65.3% were employed full time, 25.0% were employed part-time and 3.6% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Western Downs (R), 9.2% worked 1 to 15 hours, 7.2% worked 16 to 24 hours and 55.8% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Western Downs (R) was 42 years and for people who were employed part-time was 41 years.

The most common occupations in Western Downs (R) included Managers 21.1%, Technicians and Trades Workers 15.1%, Labourers 13.5%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 11.5%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 11.1%, Professionals 11.0%, Community and Personal Service Workers 7.5% and Sales Workers 7.5%.

Of the employed people in Western Downs (R), the most common responses for industry of employment included Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 14.9%, School Education 6.0%, Local Government Administration 3.1%, Road Freight Transport 2.4% and Hospitals 2.3%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Western Downs (R) was $541.

In Western Downs (R), on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 58.5%, Walked only 7.1%, Car, as passenger 6.5%, Truck 1.9% and Other 1.2%. On the day, 1.2% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 65.1% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Western Downs (R), of people aged 15 years and over, 68.6% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 29.6% provided care for children and 10.7% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 25.8% 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 Western Downs (R), 23.3% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.7% worked 15 to 29 hours and 13.7% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Western Downs (R), 43.4% were couple families with children, 42.2% were couple families without children and 13.1% were one parent families.

In Western Downs (R) 18.5% of single parents were male and 81.5% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Western Downs (R), for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,958 and those without children was $1,618.

Employment status of couple families

In Western Downs (R), of couple families with children, 24.3% had both partners employed full-time, 2.8% had both employed part-time and 22.7% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Western Downs (R), 83.9% of private dwellings were occupied and 16.1% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Western Downs (R), 93.5% were separate houses, 1.2% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 3.5% were flats, units or apartments and 1.7% were other dwellings.

In Western Downs (R), of occupied private dwellings 3.5% had 1 bedroom, 14.7% had 2 bedrooms and 43.9% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.2. The average household size was 2.6 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Western Downs (R), 35.9% were owned outright, 29.0% were owned with a mortgage and 30.8% were rented.

Household composition

In Western Downs (R), of all households, 72.0% were family households, 24.6% were single person households and 3.4% were group households.

In Western Downs (R), 27.3% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 6.7% 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 Downs (R), 30.2% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 37.1% had two registered motor vehicles and 24.2% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Western Downs (R), there were 1,417 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 687 (or 48.5%) were male and 730 (or 51.5%) were female. The median age was 19 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 Downs (R), for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.4, with 1.3 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $909.

In Western Downs (R), for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $200 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,127.