Central Desert (S)

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 3,720 people in Central Desert (S) of these 50.8% were male and 49.2% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 80.0% of the population.

The median age of people in Central Desert (S) was 27 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 28.8% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 4.9% of the population.

Of people in Central Desert (S) aged 15 years and over, 55.6% were married and 6.9% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Central Desert (S) was 37 years and the median age of people never married was 28 years.

In Central Desert (S), of people aged 15 years and over, 48.8% of people were in a registered marriage and 5.0% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Central Desert (S) was 37 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 33 years.

In Central Desert (S) 33.8% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 37.3% were in primary school, 11.5% in secondary school and 4.8% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Central Desert (S) were Australian Aboriginal 69.6%, Australian 7.8%, English 5.8%, Irish 2.1% and Scottish 2.0%.

In Central Desert (S), 95.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 0.8%, England 0.4%, South Africa 0.2%, Germany 0.1% and Indonesia 0.1%.

In Central Desert (S), 93.0% of people had both parents born in Australia and 4.7% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Central Desert (S) were Baptist 26.1%, Lutheran 20.3%, No Religion 12.4%, Catholic 8.1% and Pentecostal 7.0%.

In Central Desert (S) 18.6% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Warlpiri 41.3%, Anmatyerr, nec 20.1%, Eastern Arrernte 4.6%, Alyawarr 1.8% and Kaytetye 0.9%.

Employment

There were 1,140 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Central Desert (S). Of these 52.0% were employed full time, 24.7% were employed part-time and 14.6% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Central Desert (S), 5.3% worked 1 to 15 hours, 11.5% worked 16 to 24 hours and 47.8% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Central Desert (S) was 40 years and for people who were employed part-time was 35 years.

The most common occupations in Central Desert (S) included Professionals 17.8%, Labourers 16.9%, Community and Personal Service Workers 15.8%, Technicians and Trades Workers 12.1%, Managers 9.9%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 9.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 6.6% and Sales Workers 3.2%.

Of the employed people in Central Desert (S), the most common responses for industry of employment included Local Government Administration 23.3%, Metal Ore Mining 15.8%, Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 7.1%, Civic, Professional and Other Interest Group Services 7.1% and School Education 6.5%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Central Desert (S) was $272.

In Central Desert (S), on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Walked only 42.4%, Car, as driver 17.7%, Bus 9.7%, Car, as passenger 7.5% and Other 5.4%. On the day, 11.0% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 26.1% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Central Desert (S), of people aged 15 years and over, 62.4% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 41.8% provided care for children and 16.2% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 8.8% 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 Central Desert (S), 26.1% worked 5 to 14 hours, 9.7% worked 15 to 29 hours and 4.2% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Central Desert (S), 49.9% were couple families with children, 23.0% were couple families without children and 24.5% were one parent families.

In Central Desert (S) 10.4% of single parents were male and 89.6% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Central Desert (S), for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,410 and those without children was $2,024.

Employment status of couple families

In Central Desert (S), of couple families with children, 12.9% had both partners employed full-time, 5.0% had both employed part-time and 4.4% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Central Desert (S), 69.5% of private dwellings were occupied and 30.5% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Central Desert (S), 91.3% were separate houses, 0.0% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 3.0% were flats, units or apartments and 3.9% were other dwellings.

In Central Desert (S), of occupied private dwellings 3.5% had 1 bedroom, 17.7% had 2 bedrooms and 55.3% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.9. The average household size was 4.3 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Central Desert (S), 3.2% were owned outright, 1.1% were owned with a mortgage and 86.8% were rented.

Household composition

In Central Desert (S), of all households, 83.6% were family households, 14.4% were single person households and 2.0% were group households.

In Central Desert (S), 23.9% 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 Central Desert (S), 33.4% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 12.9% had two registered motor vehicles and 7.9% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Central Desert (S), there were 2,975 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 1,421 (or 47.8%) were male and 1,554 (or 52.2%) 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 Central Desert (S), for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 5.2, with 1.9 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $803.

In Central Desert (S), for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $20 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $0.