Broome

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 12,766 people in Broome of these 50.9% were male and 49.1% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 22.5% of the population.

The median age of people in Broome was 33 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 22.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 5.0% of the population.

Of people in Broome aged 15 years and over, 36.4% were married and 11.9% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Broome was 45 years and the median age of people never married was 29 years.

In Broome, of people aged 15 years and over, 35.4% of people were in a registered marriage and 20.9% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Broome was 45 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 36 years.

In Broome 34.6% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 27.2% were in primary school, 11.8% in secondary school and 13.8% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Broome were Australian 31.6%, English 23.5%, Irish 6.6%, Scottish 6.1% and Australian Aboriginal 4.2%.

In Broome, 74.2% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 3.8%, New Zealand 2.2%, Philippines 1.0%, South Africa 0.6% and Germany 0.6%.

In Broome, 65.6% of people had both parents born in Australia and 20.4% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Broome were No Religion 28.8%, Catholic 28.4%, Anglican 13.2%, Uniting Church 2.6% and Christian, nfd 1.7%.

In Broome 80.4% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Filipino 0.5%, Thai 0.5%, German 0.5%, Italian 0.4% and Kriol 0.3%.

Employment

There were 6,615 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Broome. Of these 68.1% were employed full time, 20.7% were employed part-time and 4.1% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Broome, 6.9% worked 1 to 15 hours, 5.9% worked 16 to 24 hours and 52.9% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Broome was 39 years and for people who were employed part-time was 40 years.

The most common occupations in Broome included Professionals 19.1%, Technicians and Trades Workers 17.1%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 14.6%, Managers 13.1%, Community and Personal Service Workers 12.5%, Labourers 8.3%, Sales Workers 8.0% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 5.6%.

Of the employed people in Broome, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 6.1%, Accommodation 5.7%, Hospitals 3.7%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.5% and Public Order and Safety Services 3.3%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Broome was $862.

In Broome, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 57.1%, Walked only 7.2%, Car, as passenger 6.7%, Bicycle 4.5% and Motorbike/scooter 3.4%. On the day, 1.4% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 64.2% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Broome, of people aged 15 years and over, 66.0% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 26.9% provided care for children and 6.8% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 18.6% 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 Broome, 25.8% worked 5 to 14 hours, 9.9% worked 15 to 29 hours and 7.1% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Broome, 42.3% were couple families with children, 37.4% were couple families without children and 19.0% were one parent families.

In Broome 17.3% of single parents were male and 82.7% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Broome, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,458 and those without children was $2,391.

Employment status of couple families

In Broome, of couple families with children, 31.7% had both partners employed full-time, 2.6% had both employed part-time and 21.9% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Broome, 91.3% of private dwellings were occupied and 8.7% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Broome, 68.9% were separate houses, 11.4% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 8.2% were flats, units or apartments and 10.6% were other dwellings.

In Broome, of occupied private dwellings 10.4% had 1 bedroom, 16.0% had 2 bedrooms and 40.3% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.9. The average household size was 2.7 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Broome, 15.8% were owned outright, 23.3% were owned with a mortgage and 56.6% were rented.

Household composition

In Broome, of all households, 69.8% were family households, 23.3% were single person households and 6.9% were group households.

In Broome, 16.3% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 16.7% 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 Broome, 32.6% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 35.5% had two registered motor vehicles and 18.4% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Broome, there were 2,875 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 1,407 (or 48.9%) were male and 1,468 (or 51.1%) 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 Broome, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.3, with 1.3 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,131.

In Broome, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $161 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,461.