Cairns

Latest release
2021 Census Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people QuickStats
Geography type Statistical Areas Level 4
Area code 306
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 26,935
Male 47.9%
Female 52.1%
Median age 24
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families 8,215
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander households 9,999
Average number of people per household 3.2
Median weekly household income $1,347
Median monthly mortgage repayments $1,547
Median weekly rent (a) $270

(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 Cairns, 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander total 26,935 10.6 237,303 4.6 812,728 3.2
Aboriginal 17,110 6.7 193,405 3.8 742,882 2.9
Torres Strait Islander 4,998 2.0 21,772 0.4 33,765 0.1
Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 4,825 1.9 22,122 0.4 36,083 0.1
Non-Indigenous 204,828 80.7 4,635,042 89.9 23,375,949 91.9
Not stated 21,989 8.7 283,793 5.5 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Median age 24 N/A 23 N/A 24 N/A
0-4 years 2,729 10.1 25,731 10.8 85,941 10.6
5-14 years 6,302 23.4 54,439 22.9 179,604 22.1
15-24 years 4,836 18.0 44,204 18.6 150,057 18.5
25-34 years 3,468 12.9 33,612 14.2 117,969 14.5
35-44 years 2,930 10.9 25,219 10.6 87,910 10.8
45-54 years 2,822 10.5 23,680 10.0 81,802 10.1
55-64 years 2,175 8.1 17,354 7.3 61,759 7.6
65 years and over 1,678 6.2 13,065 5.5 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Married 3,102 17.3 33,341 21.2 127,525 23.3
Separated 645 3.6 6,967 4.4 23,982 4.4
Divorced 968 5.4 10,657 6.8 37,473 6.8
Widowed 541 3.0 4,181 2.7 16,329 3.0
Never married 12,655 70.7 101,985 64.9 341,871 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Registered marriage (a) 2,840 17.4 30,074 21.4 112,643 23.0
De facto marriage (b) 2,902 17.8 25,417 18.0 81,295 16.6
Not married 10,546 64.8 85,357 60.6 296,032 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Preschool 552 5.5 6,070 6.6 25,485 8.0
Primary 3,964 39.4 35,874 38.9 120,864 37.9
Secondary 3,265 32.5 26,207 28.4 83,631 26.2
Tertiary - Vocational education (including TAFE and private training providers) 542 5.4 4,967 5.4 21,273 6.7
Tertiary - University or higher education 502 5.0 6,362 6.9 21,149 6.6
Other 303 3.0 2,803 3.0 7,310 2.3
Not stated 926 9.2 9,970 10.8 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Bachelor Degree level and above 960 5.4 11,028 7.0 40,554 7.4
Advanced Diploma and Diploma level 1,145 6.4 10,614 6.8 34,681 6.3
Certificate level IV 694 3.9 6,227 4.0 23,374 4.3
Certificate level III 2,922 16.3 27,557 17.5 84,821 15.5
Year 12 3,513 19.6 28,526 18.2 82,998 15.2
Year 11 1,615 9.0 11,349 7.2 43,335 7.9
Year 10 3,041 17.0 28,737 18.3 102,707 18.8
Certificate level II 45 0.3 344 0.2 1,262 0.2
Certificate level I 12 0.1 52 0.0 241 0.0
Year 9 or below 2,074 11.6 18,908 12.0 75,326 13.8
Inadequately described 341 1.9 3,131 2.0 11,038 2.0
No educational attainment 175 1.0 1,193 0.8 5,242 1.0
Not stated 1,372 7.7 9,409 6.0 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Cape York Peninsula Languages, nec 1,746 6.5 2,691 1.1 2,688 0.3
Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) 833 3.1 7,380 3.1 7,596 0.9
Aboriginal English, so described 260 1.0 585 0.2 1,371 0.2
Australian Indigenous Languages, nfd 206 0.8 1,407 0.6 4,197 0.5
Kuku Yalanji 178 0.7 347 0.1 370 0.0
 null  null  null  null  null  null  null
Australian Indigenous languages used at home 4,072 15.1 19,018 8.0 76,978 9.5
English only used at home 20,140 74.8 202,342 85.3 683,122 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Australian Aboriginal 20,697 76.8 194,063 81.8 695,359 85.6
Torres Strait Islander 9,087 33.7 38,500 16.2 57,353 7.1
Australian 5,957 22.1 78,079 32.9 277,467 34.1
English 2,785 10.3 35,211 14.8 131,618 16.2
Irish 720 2.7 9,006 3.8 31,853 3.9

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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
In the labour force 9,537 53.3 88,971 56.6 296,172 54.1
Not in the labour force 7,869 43.9 64,129 40.8 234,314 42.8
Not stated 500 2.8 4,029 2.6 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Employed  null  null  null  null  null  null
Worked full-time 4,154 43.6 42,934 48.3 144,659 48.8
Worked part-time 2,925 30.7 25,926 29.1 87,019 29.4
Away from work (a) 724 7.6 8,254 9.3 28,075 9.5
Total employed 7,799 81.8 77,118 86.7 259,754 87.7
Unemployed 1,736 18.2 11,853 13.3 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Community and Personal Service Workers 1,498 19.2 13,289 17.2 45,221 17.4
Labourers 1,413 18.1 12,156 15.8 37,003 14.2
Clerical and Administrative Workers 1,001 12.8 9,217 12.0 30,731 11.8
Professionals 989 12.7 9,392 12.2 36,013 13.9
Technicians and Trades Workers 885 11.3 10,330 13.4 35,333 13.6
Sales Workers 663 8.5 7,120 9.2 22,365 8.6
Machinery Operators and Drivers 561 7.2 7,488 9.7 23,291 9.0
Managers 515 6.6 5,606 7.3 21,218 8.2

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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Other Social Assistance Services 388 5.0 3,030 3.9 10,154 3.9
Hospitals (except Psychiatric Hospitals) 299 3.8 2,897 3.8 9,313 3.6
Supermarket and Grocery Stores 243 3.1 2,658 3.4 8,816 3.4
Local Government Administration 238 3.1 2,337 3.0 6,639 2.6
Takeaway Food Services 222 2.8 2,385 3.1 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Personal (b) 508 N/A 563 N/A 540 N/A
Family (c) 1,353 N/A 1,510 N/A 1,527 N/A
Household (d) 1,347 N/A 1,517 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Did unpaid domestic work (week before Census Night) 10,237 57.2 93,340 59.4 328,022 59.9
Provided unpaid care for child/children (during two weeks before Census Night) 5,234 29.2 46,884 29.8 166,628 30.5
Provided unpaid assistance to a person with a disability, health condition or due to old age (during two weeks before Census Night) 2,332 13.0 20,506 13.1 76,568 14.0
Did voluntary work through an organisation or group (last 12 months) 1,815 10.1 16,824 10.7 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Arthritis 1,111 4.1 13,964 5.9 50,807 6.3
Asthma 2,291 8.5 30,328 12.8 107,162 13.2
Cancer (including remission) 335 1.2 3,684 1.6 12,927 1.6
Dementia (including Alzheimer's) 187 0.7 1,084 0.5 3,610 0.4
Diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes) 2,050 7.6 14,227 6.0 47,688 5.9
Heart disease (including heart attack or angina) 1,027 3.8 8,644 3.6 30,160 3.7
Kidney disease 365 1.4 2,678 1.1 10,053 1.2
Lung condition (including COPD or emphysema) 407 1.5 4,813 2.0 17,552 2.2
Mental health condition (including depression or anxiety) 1,934 7.2 29,713 12.5 107,776 13.3
Stroke 243 0.9 2,004 0.8 7,059 0.9
Any other long-term health condition(s) 1,781 6.6 20,408 8.6 70,592 8.7
No long-term health condition(s) 17,656 65.6 138,929 58.5 462,348 56.9
Not stated 1,692 6.3 17,857 7.5 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
None of the selected conditions 18,572 69.0 147,859 62.3 493,110 60.7
One condition 4,618 17.1 47,176 19.9 167,204 20.6
Two conditions 1,292 4.8 15,219 6.4 54,174 6.7
Three or more conditions 762 2.8 9,182 3.9 32,701 4.0
Not stated 1,692 6.3 17,857 7.5 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Number of dwellings requiring one or more extra bedroom(s) (a) 1,491 14.9 9,479 9.3 31,268 8.9
Average number of people per household 3.2 N/A 3.2 N/A 3.1 N/A
Average number of persons per bedroom 1.1 N/A 1 N/A 1 N/A
Average number of registered motor vehicles per dwelling 1.6 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Median weekly rent (a) $270 N/A $305 N/A $300 N/A
Median monthly mortgage repayments $1,547 N/A $1,670 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
One family household: Couple family with no children 1,489 14.9 18,041 17.8 62,751 17.8
One family household: Couple family with children 2,667 26.7 30,193 29.7 104,435 29.7
One family household: One parent family 2,838 28.4 25,214 24.8 86,135 24.5
One family household: Other family 253 2.5 2,079 2.0 7,040 2.0
Multiple family household: Couple family with no children 49 0.5 570 0.6 2,130 0.6
Multiple family household: Couple family with children 228 2.3 2,042 2.0 6,813 1.9
Multiple family household: One parent family 309 3.1 2,678 2.6 8,606 2.4
Multiple family household: Other family 17 0.2 108 0.1 412 0.1
Other household 2,159 21.6 20,562 20.3 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Separate house 7,391 73.9 80,529 79.3 281,729 80.0
Semi-detached, row or terrace house, townhouse etc. 969 9.7 11,082 10.9 38,396 10.9
Flat or apartment 1,416 14.2 8,530 8.4 27,919 7.9
Other dwelling 184 1.8 1,003 1.0 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 		Cairns % Cairns Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Owned outright 1,083 10.8 12,395 12.2 48,452 13.8
Owned with a mortgage (a) 2,136 21.4 26,096 25.7 96,647 27.5
Rented (b) 6,307 63.1 59,211 58.3 192,703 54.7
Other (c) 139 1.4 1,295 1.3 5,582 1.6
Not stated 330 3.3 2,502 2.5 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.