Downer

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 3,555 people in Downer of these 49.4% were male and 50.6% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.8% of the population.

The median age of people in Downer was 35 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 16.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.5% of the population.

Of people in Downer aged 15 years and over, 39.9% were married and 10.3% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Downer was 46 years and the median age of people never married was 28 years.

In Downer, of people aged 15 years and over, 38.4% of people were in a registered marriage and 13.1% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Downer was 48 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 37 years.

In Downer 32.5% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 21.0% were in primary school, 15.1% in secondary school and 40.9% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Downer were Australian 25.5%, English 22.9%, Irish 9.7%, Scottish 8.0% and German 3.4%.

In Downer, 67.6% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 4.1%, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 3.0%, New Zealand 1.3%, Italy 1.0% and Greece 1.0%.

In Downer, 50.6% of people had both parents born in Australia and 34.2% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Downer were No Religion 40.1%, Catholic 19.4%, Anglican 10.6%, Buddhism 4.4% and Eastern Orthodox 2.6%.

In Downer 76.0% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 2.9%, Greek 1.7%, Italian 1.4%, Vietnamese 1.0% and Other Southern Asian Languages 1.0%.

Employment

There were 1,943 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Downer. Of these 59.8% were employed full time, 29.9% were employed part-time and 4.3% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Downer, 10.2% worked 1 to 15 hours, 9.6% worked 16 to 24 hours and 41.5% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Downer was 38 years and for people who were employed part-time was 36 years.

The most common occupations in Downer included Professionals 33.3%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 16.5%, Managers 15.2%, Community and Personal Service Workers 9.1%, Technicians and Trades Workers 8.9%, Labourers 6.1%, Sales Workers 6.0% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 2.5%.

Of the employed people in Downer, the most common responses for industry of employment included Central Government Administration 20.1%, Tertiary Education 6.6%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 5.0%, Defence 4.1% and State Government Administration 3.5%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Downer was $792.

In Downer, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 51.9%, Bus 9.4%, Bicycle 9.3%, Car, as passenger 6.0% and Walked only 4.3%. On the day, 10.5% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 58.0% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Downer, of people aged 15 years and over, 78.8% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 26.0% provided care for children and 11.2% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 23.1% 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 Downer, 31.2% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.6% worked 15 to 29 hours and 7.4% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Downer, 41.4% were couple families with children, 40.3% were couple families without children and 16.2% were one parent families.

In Downer 21.3% of single parents were male and 78.7% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Downer, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,994 and those without children was $2,687.

Employment status of couple families

In Downer, of couple families with children, 24.7% had both partners employed full-time, 4.6% had both employed part-time and 18.0% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Downer, 92.7% of private dwellings were occupied and 7.3% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Downer, 78.7% were separate houses, 13.0% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 8.3% were flats, units or apartments and 0.0% were other dwellings.

In Downer, of occupied private dwellings 6.6% had 1 bedroom, 12.7% had 2 bedrooms and 55.1% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3. The average household size was 2.4 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Downer, 30.2% were owned outright, 29.1% were owned with a mortgage and 38.5% were rented.

Household composition

In Downer, of all households, 62.7% were family households, 27.0% were single person households and 10.3% were group households.

In Downer, 17.0% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 18.4% 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 Downer, 45.1% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 31.8% had two registered motor vehicles and 10.1% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Downer, there were 66 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 29 (or 43.9%) were male and 37 (or 56.1%) were female. The median age was 17 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 Downer, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.4, with 1.1 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,750.

In Downer, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $180 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,679.