Remote Australia

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 95,399 people in Remote Australia of these 53.8% were male and 46.2% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 11.6% of the population.

The median age of people in Remote Australia was 35 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 22.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 7.8% of the population.

Of people in Remote Australia aged 15 years and over, 46.9% were married and 11.2% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Remote Australia was 47 years and the median age of people never married was 28 years.

In Remote Australia, of people aged 15 years and over, 47.2% of people were in a registered marriage and 17.1% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Remote Australia was 47 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 35 years.

In Remote Australia 31.7% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 29.0% were in primary school, 12.5% in secondary school and 9.5% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Remote Australia were Australian 31.8%, English 26.6%, Scottish 6.3%, Irish 6.2% and German 2.6%.

In Remote Australia, 72.4% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 3.6%, England 3.6%, South Africa 0.9%, Philippines 0.8% and Scotland 0.6%.

In Remote Australia, 64.9% of people had both parents born in Australia and 22.1% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Remote Australia were No Religion 27.0%, Catholic 21.9%, Anglican 17.4%, Uniting Church 4.0% and Christian, nfd 2.7%.

In Remote Australia 81.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Afrikaans 0.5%, Tagalog 0.4%, Filipino 0.3%, German 0.3% and Vietnamese 0.3%.

Employment

There were 49,565 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Remote Australia. Of these 68.9% were employed full time, 20.1% were employed part-time and 3.6% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Remote Australia, 7.2% worked 1 to 15 hours, 6.1% worked 16 to 24 hours and 60.5% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Remote Australia was 40 years and for people who were employed part-time was 41 years.

The most common occupations in Remote Australia included Managers 19.3%, Technicians and Trades Workers 18.7%, Professionals 13.2%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 12.3%, Labourers 11.2%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 10.2%, Community and Personal Service Workers 7.8% and Sales Workers 5.6%.

Of the employed people in Remote Australia, the most common responses for industry of employment included Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 10.3%, Metal Ore Mining 7.3%, School Education 5.7%, Accommodation 2.9% and Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction 2.6%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Remote Australia was $832.

In Remote Australia, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 54.6%, Walked only 7.8%, Car, as passenger 7.4%, Bus 4.3% and Other 1.9%. On the day, 4.7% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 62.3% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Remote Australia, of people aged 15 years and over, 64.8% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 27.3% provided care for children and 7.3% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 23.3% 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 Remote Australia, 23.8% worked 5 to 14 hours, 10.3% worked 15 to 29 hours and 10.1% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Remote Australia, 44.9% were couple families with children, 41.3% were couple families without children and 12.5% were one parent families.

In Remote Australia 21.4% of single parents were male and 78.6% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Remote Australia, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,554 and those without children was $2,371.

Employment status of couple families

In Remote Australia, of couple families with children, 29.5% had both partners employed full-time, 2.9% had both employed part-time and 21.6% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Remote Australia, 78.2% of private dwellings were occupied and 21.8% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Remote Australia, 80.1% were separate houses, 8.5% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 4.7% were flats, units or apartments and 6.2% were other dwellings.

In Remote Australia, of occupied private dwellings 6.2% had 1 bedroom, 13.9% had 2 bedrooms and 43.9% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.1. The average household size was 2.6 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Remote Australia, 26.2% were owned outright, 21.2% were owned with a mortgage and 48.3% were rented.

Household composition

In Remote Australia, of all households, 72.1% were family households, 24.1% were single person households and 3.8% were group households.

In Remote Australia, 19.1% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 19.2% 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 Remote Australia, 28.1% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 37.2% had two registered motor vehicles and 24.9% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Remote Australia, there were 11,069 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 5,479 (or 49.5%) were male and 5,590 (or 50.5%) were female. The median age was 24 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 Remote Australia, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.4, with 1.4 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,192.

In Remote Australia, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $140 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,733.