Great Sandy Desert

Latest release
2021 Census Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people QuickStats
Geography type Indigenous Areas
Area code IARE504002
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 919
Male 50.3%
Female 49.7%
Median age 25
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families 217
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander households 194
Average number of people per household 4.3
Median weekly household income $788
Median monthly mortgage repayments $0
Median weekly rent (a) $60

(a) For 2021, median weekly rent calculations exclude dwellings being occupied rent-free.

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All tables refer to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander persons in Great Sandy Desert, unless otherwise stated.
Small random changes have been made to all cell values for privacy reasons. These changes may cause the sum of rows or columns to differ by small amounts from the table totals.

People and population

Indigenous status
All people 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander total 919 81.8 88,693 3.3 812,728 3.2
Aboriginal 919 81.8 85,004 3.2 742,882 2.9
Torres Strait Islander 0 0.0 1,625 0.1 33,765 0.1
Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 0 0.0 2,068 0.1 36,083 0.1
Non-Indigenous 135 12.0 2,431,204 91.4 23,375,949 91.9
Not stated 70 6.2 140,128 5.3 1,234,112 4.9

More information on Place of Usual Residence (PURP), Indigenous status (INGP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Age
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Median age 25 N/A 24 N/A 24 N/A
0-4 years 87 9.5 9,264 10.4 85,941 10.6
5-14 years 174 18.9 19,164 21.6 179,604 22.1
15-24 years 196 21.3 16,006 18.0 150,057 18.5
25-34 years 162 17.6 13,512 15.2 117,969 14.5
35-44 years 129 14.0 10,445 11.8 87,910 10.8
45-54 years 98 10.7 8,961 10.1 81,802 10.1
55-64 years 39 4.2 6,632 7.5 61,759 7.6
65 years and over 38 4.1 4,716 5.3 47,677 5.9

More information on Age (AGEP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Registered marital status
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Married 200 30.5 12,414 20.6 127,525 23.3
Separated 23 3.5 2,666 4.4 23,982 4.4
Divorced 8 1.2 3,260 5.4 37,473 6.8
Widowed 32 4.9 1,837 3.0 16,329 3.0
Never married 388 59.1 40,088 66.5 341,871 62.5

Note: In December 2017, amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 came into effect enabling marriage equality for all couples. For 2021, registered marriages include all couples.

More information on Registered marital status (MSTP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Social marital status
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over, usually resident and present in the household on Census night 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Registered marriage (a) 143 23.5 9,839 19.6 112,643 23.0
De facto marriage (b) 138 22.7 9,703 19.3 81,295 16.6
Not married 323 53.0 30,724 61.1 296,032 60.4

(a) In December 2017, amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 came into effect enabling marriage equality for all couples. For 2021, registered marriages include all couples.
(b) De facto marriage is when two people live together as partners who are not in a registered marriage. It includes people who report de facto, partner, common law husband/wife/spouse, lover, girlfriend or boyfriend.

More information on Social marital status (MDCP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Education

Type of educational institution attending
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people attending an educational institution 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Preschool 17 6.4 2,321 6.6 25,485 8.0
Primary 130 49.1 12,434 35.5 120,864 37.9
Secondary 42 15.8 8,838 25.3 83,631 26.2
Tertiary - Vocational education (including TAFE and private training providers) 5 1.9 1,694 4.8 21,273 6.7
Tertiary - University or higher education 0 0.0 1,710 4.9 21,149 6.6
Other 5 1.9 782 2.2 7,310 2.3
Not stated 70 26.4 7,209 20.6 38,814 12.2

More information Type of educational institution attending (TYPP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Level of highest educational attainment
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Bachelor Degree level and above 7 1.1 3,247 5.4 40,554 7.4
Advanced Diploma and Diploma level 4 0.6 2,678 4.4 34,681 6.3
Certificate level IV 4 0.6 2,311 3.8 23,374 4.3
Certificate level III 41 6.2 7,762 12.9 84,821 15.5
Year 12 79 12.0 9,364 15.5 82,998 15.2
Year 11 111 16.9 5,923 9.8 43,335 7.9
Year 10 178 27.1 14,035 23.3 102,707 18.8
Certificate level II 0 0.0 106 0.2 1,262 0.2
Certificate level I 0 0.0 22 0.0 241 0.0
Year 9 or below 142 21.6 7,020 11.6 75,326 13.8
Inadequately described 17 2.6 1,073 1.8 11,038 2.0
No educational attainment 18 2.7 854 1.4 5,242 1.0
Not stated 64 9.8 5,847 9.7 41,467 7.6

More information on Level of highest educational attainment (HEAP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Cultural diversity

Australian Indigenous language, top responses
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Kukatja 391 42.5 446 0.5 457 0.1
Jaru 263 28.6 529 0.6 551 0.1
Kriol 51 5.5 2,027 2.3 7,403 0.9
Warlpiri 42 4.6 48 0.1 2,592 0.3
Walmajarri 23 2.5 290 0.3 291 0.0
 null  null  null  null  null  null  null
Australian Indigenous languages used at home 788 85.7 11,213 12.6 76,978 9.5
English only used at home 81 8.8 68,481 77.2 683,122 84.1

More information on Language used at home (LANP), Whether reported using an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander language at home (LNGP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Ancestry, top responses
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Australian Aboriginal 867 94.3 76,590 86.4 695,359 85.6
Irish 12 1.3 2,385 2.7 31,853 3.9
English 7 0.8 11,662 13.1 131,618 16.2
Australian 4 0.4 25,219 28.4 277,467 34.1
Scottish 4 0.4 2,063 2.3 24,549 3.0

Note 1: Respondents had the option of reporting up to two ancestries on their Census form, and this is captured by the Ancestry multi response (ANCP) variable used in this table. Therefore, the sum of all ancestry responses for an area will not equal the total number of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in the area.
Note 2: Calculated percentages represent a proportion of the number of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in the area (including those who did not state an ancestry). In 2016 QuickStats percentages were based on total number of responses and will not be comparable to this table.

More information on Ancestry multi response (ANCP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Income and work

Participation in the labour force
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
In the labour force 241 36.7 29,553 49.0 296,172 54.1
Not in the labour force 370 56.4 27,477 45.6 234,314 42.8
Not stated 42 6.4 3,234 5.4 16,695 3.1

Note 1: Calculated percentages represent a proportion of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 and over in the area.
Note 2: The ABS Labour Force Survey provides the official estimates of Australia's labour force. More information is provided in Comparing 2021 Census and Labour Force Survey.
Note 3: For information on Community Development Program participation (CDPP), please refer to the Census Dictionary. CDPP data is available in TableBuilder.

More information on Labour force status (LFSP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Employment status
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people who reported being in the labour force, aged 15 years and over 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Employed  null  null  null  null  null  null
Worked full-time 39 16.2 14,457 48.9 144,659 48.8
Worked part-time 59 24.5 7,744 26.2 87,019 29.4
Away from work (a) 6 2.5 2,661 9.0 28,075 9.5
Total employed 108 44.8 24,863 84.1 259,754 87.7
Unemployed 135 56.0 4,688 15.9 36,419 12.3

Note 1: Calculated percentages represent a proportion of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 and over, who reported being in the labour force in the area.
Note 2: The ABS Labour Force Survey provides the official estimates of Australia's labour force. More information is provided in Comparing 2021 Census and Labour Force Survey.
Note 3: For information on Community Development Program participation (CDPP), please refer to the Census Dictionary. CDPP data is available in TableBuilder.

(a) Counts employed people who reported 0 hours of work the week before the Census or did not state their hours of work.

More information on Labour force status (LFSP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Occupation, top responses
Employed Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Community and Personal Service Workers 25 23.1 3,807 15.3 45,221 17.4
Professionals 22 20.4 3,455 13.9 36,013 13.9
Labourers 16 14.8 3,326 13.4 37,003 14.2
Technicians and Trades Workers 12 11.1 3,643 14.7 35,333 13.6
Clerical and Administrative Workers 8 7.4 2,841 11.4 30,731 11.8
Sales Workers 8 7.4 1,606 6.5 22,365 8.6
Machinery Operators and Drivers 7 6.5 3,385 13.6 23,291 9.0

More information on Occupation (OCCP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Industry of employment, top responses
Employed Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Local Government Administration 16 14.8 571 2.3 6,639 2.6
Combined Primary and Secondary Education 16 14.8 348 1.4 3,592 1.4
Employment Placement and Recruitment Services 12 11.1 194 0.8 1,721 0.7
Supermarket and Grocery Stores 9 8.3 695 2.8 8,816 3.4
Creative Artists, Musicians, Writers and Performers 7 6.5 100 0.4 760 0.3

More information on Industry of employment (INDP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Median weekly incomes (a)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Personal (b) 281 N/A 481 N/A 540 N/A
Family (c) 693 N/A 1,469 N/A 1,527 N/A
Household (d) 788 N/A 1,480 N/A 1,507 N/A

(a) Incomes are collected in ranges. The medians are then calculated using information from the Survey of Income and Housing.
(b) Excludes people aged 15 years and over who did not state their income.
(c) Excludes families where at least one family member aged 15 years and over did not state their income.
(d) Excludes households where at least one household member aged 15 years and over did not state their income.

More information on Total personal income (weekly) (INCP), Total family income (weekly) (FINF), Total household income (weekly) (HIND), Indigenous household indicator (INGDWTD), Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander family indicator (INGF)
Personal income data is based on place of usual residence
Family and household income data is based on place of enumeration

Unpaid work and care

Unpaid work and care
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Did unpaid domestic work (week before Census Night) 544 82.3 33,333 55.3 328,022 59.9
Provided unpaid care for child/children (during two weeks before Census Night) 410 62.5 18,072 30.0 166,628 30.5
Provided unpaid assistance to a person with a disability, health condition or due to old age (during two weeks before Census Night) 188 28.7 7,340 12.2 76,568 14.0
Did voluntary work through an organisation or group (last 12 months) 72 11.0 6,004 10.0 58,029 10.6

More information on Unpaid domestic work: number of hours (DOMP), Unpaid child care (CHCAREP), Unpaid assistance to a person with a disability, health condition, or due to old age (UNCAREP), Voluntary work for an organisation or group (VOLWP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Health

Type of long-term health condition
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Arthritis 11 1.2 3,896 4.4 50,807 6.3
Asthma 39 4.2 8,714 9.8 107,162 13.2
Cancer (including remission) 6 0.7 1,122 1.3 12,927 1.6
Dementia (including Alzheimer's) 5 0.5 403 0.5 3,610 0.4
Diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes) 78 8.5 6,042 6.8 47,688 5.9
Heart disease (including heart attack or angina) 47 5.1 3,064 3.5 30,160 3.7
Kidney disease 10 1.1 1,139 1.3 10,053 1.2
Lung condition (including COPD or emphysema) 8 0.9 1,277 1.4 17,552 2.2
Mental health condition (including depression or anxiety) 28 3.0 8,192 9.2 107,776 13.3
Stroke 4 0.4 683 0.8 7,059 0.9
Any other long-term health condition(s) 52 5.7 6,084 6.9 70,592 8.7
No long-term health condition(s) 556 60.5 52,662 59.4 462,348 56.9
Not stated 191 20.8 10,368 11.7 65,539 8.1

Note 1: Measures the number of people who reported that they have been told by a doctor or nurse that they have any of these long-term health conditions.
Note 2: Respondents had the option of reporting multiple long-term health conditions. Therefore, the sum of all long-term health condition responses for an area will not equal the total number of people in the area.
Note 3: Calculated percentages represent a proportion of the number of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in the area (including those who did not answer the long-term health conditions question).

More information on Type of long-term health condition (LTHP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Count of selected long-term health conditions
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
None of the selected conditions 582 63.3 55,618 62.7 493,110 60.7
One condition 103 11.2 15,383 17.3 167,204 20.6
Two conditions 33 3.6 4,607 5.2 54,174 6.7
Three or more conditions 15 1.6 2,725 3.1 32,701 4.0
Not stated 191 20.8 10,368 11.7 65,539 8.1

Note: Selected long-term health conditions include arthritis, asthma, cancer (including remission), dementia (including Alzheimer's), diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes), heart disease (including heart attack or angina), kidney disease, lung condition (including COPD or emphysema), mental health condition (including depression or anxiety) and stroke. Other long-term health conditions are not included in this count.

More information on Count of selected long-term health conditions (CLTHP)
Table based on place of usual residence

Housing

Dwelling characteristics
Occupied private dwellings (excl. visitor only households and other non-classifiable households) where at least one person was Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Number of dwellings requiring one or more extra bedroom(s) (a) 73 37.6 3,233 9.5 31,268 8.9
Average number of people per household 4.3 N/A 3.2 N/A 3.1 N/A
Average number of persons per bedroom 1.5 N/A 1 N/A 1 N/A
Average number of registered motor vehicles per dwelling 0.4 N/A 1.8 N/A 1.9 N/A

(a) The Canadian National Occupancy Standard for Housing Appropriateness is used to determine whether there are enough bedrooms in the dwelling for the usual residents. See Housing suitability information below for more details.

More information on Number of bedrooms in private dwelling (BEDD), Household composition (HHCD), Indigenous household indicator (INGDWTD), Housing suitability (HOSD)
Table based on place of enumeration

Mortgage and Rent
Occupied private dwellings (excl. visitor only households and other non-classifiable households) where at least one person was Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Median weekly rent (a) $60 N/A $260 N/A $300 N/A
Median monthly mortgage repayments $0 N/A $1,733 N/A $1,721 N/A

(a) Median rent calculations exclude dwellings being occupied rent-free, this is not comparable to 2016 QuickStats data.

More information on Rent (weekly) dollar values (RNTD), Mortgage repayments (monthly) dollar values (MRED), Indigenous household indicator (INGDWTD)
Table based on place of enumeration

Family household composition
Occupied private dwellings (excl. visitor only households and other non-classifiable households) where at least one person was Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
One family household: Couple family with no children 12 6.2 5,511 16.2 62,751 17.8
One family household: Couple family with children 79 40.7 10,128 29.8 104,435 29.7
One family household: One parent family 28 14.4 8,458 24.9 86,135 24.5
One family household: Other family 11 5.7 847 2.5 7,040 2.0
Multiple family household: Couple family with no children 3 1.5 222 0.7 2,130 0.6
Multiple family household: Couple family with children 24 12.4 638 1.9 6,813 1.9
Multiple family household: One parent family 16 8.2 910 2.7 8,606 2.4
Multiple family household: Other family 0 0.0 69 0.2 412 0.1
Other household 19 9.8 7,167 21.1 73,717 20.9

Note: This table counts the types of families within family households at the dwelling level. In multiple family households, only the family composition of the primary family is recorded. Other household includes lone person households and group households.

More information on Family household composition (dwelling) (HCFMD)
Table based on place of enumeration

Dwelling structure
Occupied private dwellings where at least one person was Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Separate house 189 97.4 28,229 83.2 281,729 80.0
Semi-detached, row or terrace house, townhouse etc. 0 0.0 4,051 11.9 38,396 10.9
Flat or apartment 0 0.0 1,243 3.7 27,919 7.9
Other dwelling 0 0.0 261 0.8 2,861 0.8

More information on Dwelling structure (STRD)
Table based on place of enumeration

Tenure type
Occupied private dwellings (excl. visitor only households and other non-classifiable households) where at least one person was Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 		Great Sandy Desert % Great Sandy Desert Western Australia % Western Australia Australia % Australia
Owned outright 5 2.6 3,673 10.8 48,452 13.8
Owned with a mortgage (a) 0 0.0 9,444 27.8 96,647 27.5
Rented (b) 178 91.8 19,092 56.2 192,703 54.7
Other (c) 5 2.6 597 1.8 5,582 1.6
Not stated 3 1.5 1,140 3.4 8,652 2.5

(a) Includes dwellings purchased under a shared equity scheme.
(b) Excludes dwellings being occupied rent-free, this is not comparable to 2016 QuickStats data.
(c) Comprises dwellings occupied rent-free, occupied under a life tenure scheme and other tenure type

More information on Tenure type (TEND)
Table based on place of enumeration

Please note that there are small random adjustments made to all cell values to protect the confidentiality of data. These adjustments may cause the sum of rows or columns to differ by small amounts from table totals.