West Ballina

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 2,972 people in West Ballina of these 48.1% were male and 51.9% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 6.6% of the population.

The median age of people in West Ballina was 50 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 15.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 28.3% of the population.

Of people in West Ballina aged 15 years and over, 47.6% were married and 15.9% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in West Ballina was 63 years and the median age of people never married was 27 years.

In West Ballina, of people aged 15 years and over, 47.9% of people were in a registered marriage and 9.1% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in West Ballina was 62 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 41 years.

In West Ballina 24.1% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 23.0% were in primary school, 26.8% in secondary school and 17.5% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in West Ballina were Australian 33.0%, English 32.2%, Irish 9.2%, Scottish 7.7% and German 2.6%.

In West Ballina, 85.4% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 2.9%, New Zealand 1.4%, Thailand 0.5%, Germany 0.4% and Scotland 0.4%.

In West Ballina, 77.4% of people had both parents born in Australia and 11.7% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in West Ballina were Anglican 30.7%, Catholic 25.7%, No Religion 14.8%, Uniting Church 6.6% and Presbyterian and Reformed 5.5%.

In West Ballina 93.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Vietnamese 0.6%, Thai 0.4%, Italian 0.3%, German 0.3% and Cantonese 0.3%.

Employment

There were 1,096 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in West Ballina. Of these 51.9% were employed full time, 33.8% were employed part-time and 7.9% were unemployed.

Of employed people in West Ballina, 13.2% worked 1 to 15 hours, 12.4% worked 16 to 24 hours and 36.4% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in West Ballina was 45 years and for people who were employed part-time was 44 years.

The most common occupations in West Ballina included Technicians and Trades Workers 14.6%, Labourers 13.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 12.8%, Professionals 12.7%, Community and Personal Service Workers 12.7%, Sales Workers 12.2%, Managers 11.3% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 7.7%.

Of the employed people in West Ballina, the most common responses for industry of employment included Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 6.2%, School Education 5.3%, Supermarket and Grocery Stores 4.2%, Residential Care Services 3.4% and Accommodation 3.3%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in West Ballina was $412.

In West Ballina, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 64.2%, Car, as passenger 7.1%, Walked only 4.2%, Truck 1.9% and Bicycle 1.4%. On the day, 0.9% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 71.5% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In West Ballina, of people aged 15 years and over, 67.7% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 23.9% provided care for children and 15.0% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 19.2% 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 West Ballina, 23.2% worked 5 to 14 hours, 15.9% worked 15 to 29 hours and 11.9% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in West Ballina, 28.4% were couple families with children, 49.4% were couple families without children and 20.9% were one parent families.

In West Ballina 18.8% of single parents were male and 81.2% were female.

Weekly incomes

In West Ballina, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,644 and those without children was $1,491.

Employment status of couple families

In West Ballina, of couple families with children, 14.0% had both partners employed full-time, 3.5% had both employed part-time and 14.0% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In West Ballina, 91.4% of private dwellings were occupied and 8.6% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in West Ballina, 67.4% were separate houses, 5.7% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 15.8% were flats, units or apartments and 10.9% were other dwellings.

In West Ballina, of occupied private dwellings 5.1% had 1 bedroom, 15.3% had 2 bedrooms and 52.8% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3. The average household size was 2.3 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in West Ballina, 45.2% were owned outright, 18.3% were owned with a mortgage and 31.7% were rented.

Household composition

In West Ballina, of all households, 67.2% were family households, 30.1% were single person households and 2.7% were group households.

In West Ballina, 36.5% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 2.3% 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 West Ballina, 44.5% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 31.6% had two registered motor vehicles and 9.3% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In West Ballina, there were 195 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 87 (or 44.6%) were male and 108 (or 55.4%) 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 West Ballina, 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 $627.

In West Ballina, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $180 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $867.