Torres Strait Island

Latest release
2021 Census Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people QuickStats
Geography type Local Government Areas
Area code LGA36960
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 3,737
Male 49.5%
Female 50.5%
Median age 26
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families 932
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander households 961
Average number of people per household 3.6
Median weekly household income $963
Median monthly mortgage repayments $0
Median weekly rent (a) $135

(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 Torres Strait Island, 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander total 3,737 90.6 237,303 4.6 812,728 3.2
Aboriginal 47 1.1 193,405 3.8 742,882 2.9
Torres Strait Islander 3,036 73.6 21,772 0.4 33,765 0.1
Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 658 16.0 22,122 0.4 36,083 0.1
Non-Indigenous 181 4.4 4,635,042 89.9 23,375,949 91.9
Not stated 210 5.1 283,793 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Median age 26 N/A 23 N/A 24 N/A
0-4 years 422 11.3 25,731 10.8 85,941 10.6
5-14 years 835 22.3 54,439 22.9 179,604 22.1
15-24 years 535 14.3 44,204 18.6 150,057 18.5
25-34 years 591 15.8 33,612 14.2 117,969 14.5
35-44 years 469 12.6 25,219 10.6 87,910 10.8
45-54 years 362 9.7 23,680 10.0 81,802 10.1
55-64 years 291 7.8 17,354 7.3 61,759 7.6
65 years and over 234 6.3 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Married 507 20.5 33,341 21.2 127,525 23.3
Separated 36 1.5 6,967 4.4 23,982 4.4
Divorced 38 1.5 10,657 6.8 37,473 6.8
Widowed 113 4.6 4,181 2.7 16,329 3.0
Never married 1,777 71.8 101,985 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Registered marriage (a) 417 18.9 30,074 21.4 112,643 23.0
De facto marriage (b) 618 27.9 25,417 18.0 81,295 16.6
Not married 1,184 53.5 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Preschool 79 6.8 6,070 6.6 25,485 8.0
Primary 666 57.0 35,874 38.9 120,864 37.9
Secondary 211 18.1 26,207 28.4 83,631 26.2
Tertiary - Vocational education (including TAFE and private training providers) 74 6.3 4,967 5.4 21,273 6.7
Tertiary - University or higher education 11 0.9 6,362 6.9 21,149 6.6
Other 8 0.7 2,803 3.0 7,310 2.3
Not stated 120 10.3 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Bachelor Degree level and above 62 2.5 11,028 7.0 40,554 7.4
Advanced Diploma and Diploma level 131 5.3 10,614 6.8 34,681 6.3
Certificate level IV 123 5.0 6,227 4.0 23,374 4.3
Certificate level III 485 19.6 27,557 17.5 84,821 15.5
Year 12 604 24.4 28,526 18.2 82,998 15.2
Year 11 229 9.2 11,349 7.2 43,335 7.9
Year 10 278 11.2 28,737 18.3 102,707 18.8
Certificate level II 11 0.4 344 0.2 1,262 0.2
Certificate level I 0 0.0 52 0.0 241 0.0
Year 9 or below 269 10.9 18,908 12.0 75,326 13.8
Inadequately described 64 2.6 3,131 2.0 11,038 2.0
No educational attainment 27 1.1 1,193 0.8 5,242 1.0
Not stated 188 7.6 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) 2,853 76.3 7,380 3.1 7,596 0.9
Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Kalaw Lagaw Ya 380 10.2 805 0.3 875 0.1
Meriam Mir 60 1.6 220 0.1 256 0.0
Australian Indigenous Languages, nfd 39 1.0 1,407 0.6 4,197 0.5
Aboriginal English, so described 21 0.6 585 0.2 1,371 0.2
 null  null  null  null  null  null  null
Australian Indigenous languages used at home 3,354 89.8 19,018 8.0 76,978 9.5
English only used at home 165 4.4 202,342 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Torres Strait Islander 3,555 95.1 38,500 16.2 57,353 7.1
Australian Aboriginal 694 18.6 194,063 81.8 695,359 85.6
Papua New Guinean 214 5.7 1,395 0.6 1,742 0.2
Australian 60 1.6 78,079 32.9 277,467 34.1
English 27 0.7 35,211 14.8 131,618 16.2

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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
In the labour force 1,059 42.8 88,971 56.6 296,172 54.1
Not in the labour force 1,383 55.9 64,129 40.8 234,314 42.8
Not stated 29 1.2 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Employed  null  null  null  null  null  null
Worked full-time 483 45.6 42,934 48.3 144,659 48.8
Worked part-time 351 33.1 25,926 29.1 87,019 29.4
Away from work (a) 100 9.4 8,254 9.3 28,075 9.5
Total employed 931 87.9 77,118 86.7 259,754 87.7
Unemployed 129 12.2 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Community and Personal Service Workers 181 19.4 13,289 17.2 45,221 17.4
Professionals 171 18.4 9,392 12.2 36,013 13.9
Labourers 149 16.0 12,156 15.8 37,003 14.2
Clerical and Administrative Workers 120 12.9 9,217 12.0 30,731 11.8
Managers 108 11.6 5,606 7.3 21,218 8.2
Sales Workers 78 8.4 7,120 9.2 22,365 8.6
Technicians and Trades Workers 68 7.3 10,330 13.4 35,333 13.6
Machinery Operators and Drivers 28 3.0 7,488 9.7 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Local Government Administration 253 27.2 2,337 3.0 6,639 2.6
Primary Education 83 8.9 1,737 2.3 6,313 2.4
Supermarket and Grocery Stores 51 5.5 2,658 3.4 8,816 3.4
Combined Primary and Secondary Education 50 5.4 908 1.2 3,592 1.4
Hospitals (except Psychiatric Hospitals) 47 5.0 2,897 3.8 9,313 3.6

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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Personal (b) 406 N/A 563 N/A 540 N/A
Family (c) 920 N/A 1,510 N/A 1,527 N/A
Household (d) 963 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Did unpaid domestic work (week before Census Night) 1,754 71.0 93,340 59.4 328,022 59.9
Provided unpaid care for child/children (during two weeks before Census Night) 962 38.9 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) 335 13.5 20,506 13.1 76,568 14.0
Did voluntary work through an organisation or group (last 12 months) 466 18.8 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Arthritis 75 2.0 13,964 5.9 50,807 6.3
Asthma 136 3.6 30,328 12.8 107,162 13.2
Cancer (including remission) 15 0.4 3,684 1.6 12,927 1.6
Dementia (including Alzheimer's) 12 0.3 1,084 0.5 3,610 0.4
Diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes) 351 9.4 14,227 6.0 47,688 5.9
Heart disease (including heart attack or angina) 116 3.1 8,644 3.6 30,160 3.7
Kidney disease 29 0.8 2,678 1.1 10,053 1.2
Lung condition (including COPD or emphysema) 9 0.2 4,813 2.0 17,552 2.2
Mental health condition (including depression or anxiety) 20 0.5 29,713 12.5 107,776 13.3
Stroke 10 0.3 2,004 0.8 7,059 0.9
Any other long-term health condition(s) 112 3.0 20,408 8.6 70,592 8.7
No long-term health condition(s) 2,872 76.9 138,929 58.5 462,348 56.9
Not stated 151 4.0 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
None of the selected conditions 2,953 79.0 147,859 62.3 493,110 60.7
One condition 514 13.8 47,176 19.9 167,204 20.6
Two conditions 86 2.3 15,219 6.4 54,174 6.7
Three or more conditions 28 0.7 9,182 3.9 32,701 4.0
Not stated 151 4.0 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Number of dwellings requiring one or more extra bedroom(s) (a) 121 12.6 9,479 9.3 31,268 8.9
Average number of people per household 3.6 N/A 3.2 N/A 3.1 N/A
Average number of persons per bedroom 1 N/A 1 N/A 1 N/A
Average number of registered motor vehicles per dwelling 0.6 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Median weekly rent (a) $135 N/A $305 N/A $300 N/A
Median monthly mortgage repayments $0 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
One family household: Couple family with no children 98 10.2 18,041 17.8 62,751 17.8
One family household: Couple family with children 301 31.3 30,193 29.7 104,435 29.7
One family household: One parent family 218 22.7 25,214 24.8 86,135 24.5
One family household: Other family 19 2.0 2,079 2.0 7,040 2.0
Multiple family household: Couple family with no children 7 0.7 570 0.6 2,130 0.6
Multiple family household: Couple family with children 62 6.5 2,042 2.0 6,813 1.9
Multiple family household: One parent family 66 6.9 2,678 2.6 8,606 2.4
Multiple family household: Other family 0 0.0 108 0.1 412 0.1
Other household 184 19.1 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Separate house 925 96.3 80,529 79.3 281,729 80.0
Semi-detached, row or terrace house, townhouse etc. 20 2.1 11,082 10.9 38,396 10.9
Flat or apartment 3 0.3 8,530 8.4 27,919 7.9
Other dwelling 4 0.4 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 		Torres Strait Island % Torres Strait Island Queensland % Queensland Australia % Australia
Owned outright 58 6.0 12,395 12.2 48,452 13.8
Owned with a mortgage (a) 0 0.0 26,096 25.7 96,647 27.5
Rented (b) 864 89.9 59,211 58.3 192,703 54.7
Other (c) 19 2.0 1,295 1.3 5,582 1.6
Not stated 12 1.2 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.