Murray-Darling

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 65,269 people in Murray-Darling of these 50.2% were male and 49.8% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 6.4% of the population.

The median age of people in Murray-Darling was 44 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 18.7% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 20.2% of the population.

Of people in Murray-Darling aged 15 years and over, 50.1% were married and 12.6% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Murray-Darling was 56 years and the median age of people never married was 27 years.

In Murray-Darling, of people aged 15 years and over, 50.6% of people were in a registered marriage and 10.2% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Murray-Darling was 55 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 39 years.

In Murray-Darling 27.9% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 28.0% were in primary school, 22.3% in secondary school and 12.6% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Murray-Darling were Australian 34.8%, English 30.7%, Irish 8.4%, Scottish 7.5% and German 3.4%.

In Murray-Darling, 88.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 1.4%, New Zealand 0.8%, Italy 0.4%, Scotland 0.3% and Netherlands 0.3%.

In Murray-Darling, 85.0% 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 Murray-Darling were Catholic 27.7%, No Religion 20.4%, Anglican 19.7%, Uniting Church 10.7% and Presbyterian and Reformed 4.6%.

In Murray-Darling 92.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 0.7%, Greek 0.1%, Cantonese 0.1%, German 0.1% and Dutch 0.1%.

Employment

There were 29,340 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Murray-Darling. Of these 60.2% were employed full time, 27.3% were employed part-time and 5.5% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Murray-Darling, 10.5% worked 1 to 15 hours, 8.2% worked 16 to 24 hours and 48.7% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Murray-Darling was 45 years and for people who were employed part-time was 45 years.

The most common occupations in Murray-Darling included Managers 21.4%, Technicians and Trades Workers 13.3%, Labourers 13.1%, Professionals 12.6%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 10.7%, Community and Personal Service Workers 10.6%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 9.0% and Sales Workers 7.7%.

Of the employed people in Murray-Darling, the most common responses for industry of employment included Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 11.6%, School Education 5.4%, Local Government Administration 3.1%, Hospitals 2.8% and Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 2.7%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Murray-Darling was $444.

In Murray-Darling, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 60.0%, Walked only 7.2%, Car, as passenger 5.4%, Truck 1.3% and Other 1.2%. On the day, 0.7% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 65.6% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Murray-Darling, of people aged 15 years and over, 65.8% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 25.6% provided care for children and 12.0% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 24.3% 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 Murray-Darling, 23.3% worked 5 to 14 hours, 13.0% worked 15 to 29 hours and 12.5% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Murray-Darling, 36.3% were couple families with children, 46.6% were couple families without children and 15.9% were one parent families.

In Murray-Darling 19.5% of single parents were male and 80.5% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Murray-Darling, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,814 and those without children was $1,507.

Employment status of couple families

In Murray-Darling, of couple families with children, 20.7% had both partners employed full-time, 3.2% had both employed part-time and 19.9% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Murray-Darling, 81.8% of private dwellings were occupied and 18.2% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Murray-Darling, 91.3% were separate houses, 1.9% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 4.6% were flats, units or apartments and 1.8% were other dwellings.

In Murray-Darling, of occupied private dwellings 2.8% had 1 bedroom, 18.7% had 2 bedrooms and 49.2% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.1. The average household size was 2.3 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Murray-Darling, 42.5% were owned outright, 27.9% were owned with a mortgage and 24.6% were rented.

Household composition

In Murray-Darling, of all households, 67.3% were family households, 30.7% were single person households and 2.0% were group households.

In Murray-Darling, 36.0% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 4.1% 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 Murray-Darling, 36.1% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 34.8% had two registered motor vehicles and 16.2% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Murray-Darling, there were 4,203 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 2,018 (or 48.0%) were male and 2,185 (or 52.0%) were female. The median age was 22 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 Murray-Darling, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.1, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $742.

In Murray-Darling, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $140 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $867.