Greater Melbourne

Latest release
2021 Census Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people QuickStats
Geography type Greater Capital City Statistical Areas
Area code 2GMEL
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 32,952
Male 50.6%
Female 49.4%
Median age 25
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families 13,188
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander households 17,838
Average number of people per household 2.9
Median weekly household income $1,809
Median monthly mortgage repayments $1,950
Median weekly rent (a) $371

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

Search QuickStats for another area

Map is loading.
Other 2021 Census products available for this area:
To view more QuickStats or Community Profiles for a different area, see Search Census data.

All tables refer to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander persons in Greater Melbourne, 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander total 32,952 0.7 65,646 1.0 812,728 3.2
Aboriginal 30,908 0.6 61,865 1.0 742,882 2.9
Torres Strait Islander 1,128 0.0 2,083 0.0 33,765 0.1
Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 915 0.0 1,692 0.0 36,083 0.1
Non-Indigenous 4,687,695 95.3 6,148,188 94.5 23,375,949 91.9
Not stated 197,103 4.0 289,665 4.5 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Median age 25 N/A 24 N/A 24 N/A
0-4 years 3,363 10.2 7,014 10.7 85,941 10.6
5-14 years 6,325 19.2 14,052 21.4 179,604 22.1
15-24 years 6,260 19.0 11,966 18.2 150,057 18.5
25-34 years 5,658 17.2 10,115 15.4 117,969 14.5
35-44 years 3,755 11.4 7,006 10.7 87,910 10.8
45-54 years 3,429 10.4 6,576 10.0 81,802 10.1
55-64 years 2,301 7.0 4,961 7.6 61,759 7.6
65 years and over 1,866 5.7 3,955 6.0 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Married 5,132 22.1 9,966 22.4 127,525 23.3
Separated 939 4.0 1,979 4.4 23,982 4.4
Divorced 1,852 8.0 3,702 8.3 37,473 6.8
Widowed 588 2.5 1,232 2.8 16,329 3.0
Never married 14,760 63.4 27,701 62.1 341,871 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Registered marriage (a) 4,811 22.6 9,225 22.7 112,643 23.0
De facto marriage (b) 3,527 16.5 6,524 16.1 81,295 16.6
Not married 12,980 60.9 24,834 61.2 296,032 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Preschool 1,256 9.6 2,597 9.7 25,485 8.0
Primary 4,251 32.3 9,527 35.6 120,864 37.9
Secondary 3,161 24.0 6,546 24.5 83,631 26.2
Tertiary - Vocational education (including TAFE and private training providers) 1,129 8.6 2,099 7.8 21,273 6.7
Tertiary - University or higher education 1,829 13.9 2,559 9.6 21,149 6.6
Other 414 3.1 846 3.2 7,310 2.3
Not stated 1,101 8.4 2,589 9.7 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Bachelor Degree level and above 3,411 14.7 5,072 11.4 40,554 7.4
Advanced Diploma and Diploma level 2,111 9.1 3,752 8.4 34,681 6.3
Certificate level IV 1,363 5.9 2,564 5.8 23,374 4.3
Certificate level III 3,540 15.2 7,034 15.8 84,821 15.5
Year 12 3,780 16.2 6,462 14.5 82,998 15.2
Year 11 1,703 7.3 3,444 7.7 43,335 7.9
Year 10 3,010 12.9 6,388 14.3 102,707 18.8
Certificate level II 42 0.2 89 0.2 1,262 0.2
Certificate level I 4 0.0 11 0.0 241 0.0
Year 9 or below 2,517 10.8 5,756 12.9 75,326 13.8
Inadequately described 488 2.1 865 1.9 11,038 2.0
No educational attainment 199 0.9 378 0.8 5,242 1.0
Not stated 1,083 4.7 2,755 6.2 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Australian Indigenous Languages, nfd 113 0.3 236 0.4 4,197 0.5
Other Australian Indigenous Languages, nec 63 0.2 85 0.1 2,863 0.4
Yorta Yorta 51 0.2 109 0.2 144 0.0
Aboriginal English, so described 47 0.1 76 0.1 1,371 0.2
Wiradjuri 44 0.1 80 0.1 1,479 0.2
 null  null  null  null  null  null  null
Australian Indigenous languages used at home 550 1.7 1,010 1.5 76,978 9.5
English only used at home 30,060 91.2 60,322 91.9 683,122 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Australian Aboriginal 27,855 84.5 55,667 84.8 695,359 85.6
Australian 12,533 38.0 25,293 38.5 277,467 34.1
English 6,499 19.7 13,172 20.1 131,618 16.2
Irish 2,101 6.4 3,814 5.8 31,853 3.9
Scottish 1,446 4.4 2,743 4.2 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
In the labour force 14,530 62.5 26,084 58.5 296,172 54.1
Not in the labour force 8,304 35.7 17,317 38.8 234,314 42.8
Not stated 428 1.8 1,182 2.7 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Employed  null  null  null  null  null  null
Worked full-time 7,843 54.0 13,552 52.0 144,659 48.8
Worked part-time 4,218 29.0 7,833 30.0 87,019 29.4
Away from work (a) 1,219 8.4 2,207 8.5 28,075 9.5
Total employed 13,276 91.4 23,592 90.4 259,754 87.7
Unemployed 1,254 8.6 2,493 9.6 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Professionals 2,463 18.6 3,960 16.8 36,013 13.9
Technicians and Trades Workers 1,951 14.7 3,330 14.1 35,333 13.6
Community and Personal Service Workers 1,948 14.7 3,828 16.2 45,221 17.4
Clerical and Administrative Workers 1,739 13.1 2,722 11.5 30,731 11.8
Managers 1,452 10.9 2,378 10.1 21,218 8.2
Labourers 1,335 10.1 2,909 12.3 37,003 14.2
Sales Workers 1,034 7.8 2,026 8.6 22,365 8.6
Machinery Operators and Drivers 852 6.4 1,577 6.7 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Hospitals (except Psychiatric Hospitals) 455 3.4 837 3.5 9,313 3.6
Other Social Assistance Services 439 3.3 878 3.7 10,154 3.9
State Government Administration 360 2.7 574 2.4 5,577 2.1
Supermarket and Grocery Stores 323 2.4 724 3.1 8,816 3.4
Takeaway Food Services 313 2.4 631 2.7 7,371 2.8

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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Personal (b) 694 N/A 619 N/A 540 N/A
Family (c) 1,895 N/A 1,638 N/A 1,527 N/A
Household (d) 1,809 N/A 1,565 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Did unpaid domestic work (week before Census Night) 15,033 64.6 27,873 62.5 328,022 59.9
Provided unpaid care for child/children (during two weeks before Census Night) 6,148 26.4 12,363 27.7 166,628 30.5
Provided unpaid assistance to a person with a disability, health condition or due to old age (during two weeks before Census Night) 3,731 16.0 7,306 16.4 76,568 14.0
Did voluntary work through an organisation or group (last 12 months) 3,112 13.4 5,840 13.1 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Arthritis 2,171 6.6 4,766 7.3 50,807 6.3
Asthma 5,246 15.9 10,632 16.2 107,162 13.2
Cancer (including remission) 617 1.9 1,237 1.9 12,927 1.6
Dementia (including Alzheimer's) 128 0.4 275 0.4 3,610 0.4
Diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes) 1,486 4.5 3,195 4.9 47,688 5.9
Heart disease (including heart attack or angina) 1,090 3.3 2,388 3.6 30,160 3.7
Kidney disease 371 1.1 761 1.2 10,053 1.2
Lung condition (including COPD or emphysema) 715 2.2 1,615 2.5 17,552 2.2
Mental health condition (including depression or anxiety) 6,133 18.6 11,996 18.3 107,776 13.3
Stroke 349 1.1 728 1.1 7,059 0.9
Any other long-term health condition(s) 3,537 10.7 6,894 10.5 70,592 8.7
No long-term health condition(s) 17,513 53.1 34,396 52.4 462,348 56.9
Not stated 2,253 6.8 4,811 7.3 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
None of the selected conditions 18,943 57.5 37,121 56.5 493,110 60.7
One condition 7,652 23.2 15,192 23.1 167,204 20.6
Two conditions 2,668 8.1 5,336 8.1 54,174 6.7
Three or more conditions 1,434 4.4 3,181 4.8 32,701 4.0
Not stated 2,253 6.8 4,811 7.3 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Number of dwellings requiring one or more extra bedroom(s) (a) 1,143 6.4 2,320 6.8 31,268 8.9
Average number of people per household 2.9 N/A 3 N/A 3.1 N/A
Average number of persons per bedroom 0.9 N/A 0.9 N/A 1 N/A
Average number of registered motor vehicles per dwelling 1.9 N/A 1.9 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Median weekly rent (a) $371 N/A $330 N/A $300 N/A
Median monthly mortgage repayments $1,950 N/A $1,600 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
One family household: Couple family with no children 3,557 19.9 6,431 19.0 62,751 17.8
One family household: Couple family with children 5,021 28.1 9,640 28.4 104,435 29.7
One family household: One parent family 3,869 21.7 8,046 23.7 86,135 24.5
One family household: Other family 324 1.8 610 1.8 7,040 2.0
Multiple family household: Couple family with no children 90 0.5 161 0.5 2,130 0.6
Multiple family household: Couple family with children 213 1.2 357 1.1 6,813 1.9
Multiple family household: One parent family 325 1.8 614 1.8 8,606 2.4
Multiple family household: Other family 9 0.1 15 0.0 412 0.1
Other household 4,432 24.8 8,019 23.7 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Separate house 12,904 72.3 27,227 80.3 281,729 80.0
Semi-detached, row or terrace house, townhouse etc. 2,619 14.7 3,822 11.3 38,396 10.9
Flat or apartment 2,213 12.4 2,576 7.6 27,919 7.9
Other dwelling 76 0.4 219 0.6 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 		Greater Melbourne % Greater Melbourne Victoria % Victoria Australia % Australia
Owned outright 2,531 14.2 5,219 15.4 48,452 13.8
Owned with a mortgage (a) 5,187 29.1 9,994 29.5 96,647 27.5
Rented (b) 9,512 53.3 17,377 51.3 192,703 54.7
Other (c) 241 1.4 488 1.4 5,582 1.6
Not stated 359 2.0 814 2.4 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.