2032.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Australia in Profile -- A Regional Analysis, 1996  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 14/12/1998   
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MEDIA RELEASE

December 14, 1998
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
145/1998

Australia in Profile: a regional analysis of ACT - ABS

A major new social report, Australia in Profile: a Regional Analysis,released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, uses the results from the 1996 Census of Population and Housing to describe some of the major differences in the characteristics and well-being of people living in different parts of Australia. This report enables comparison of the Australian Capital Territory regions with regions across other States and Territories

This report capitalises on the strength of the Census which is to provide detailed information for small geographic areas. The report also compares and contrasts the circumstances of people living in urban and rural areas, and identifies regions with the highest or lowest proportions of people with particular characteristics.

Australia in Profile: a Regional Analysis is divided into two main parts. The first consists of seven chapters discussing topics of social interest and concern in a range of areas including, cultural diversity, living arrangements, and employment and unemployment.

The second part of the report consists of a detailed social indicator table which presents a selection of key indicators for Statistical Local Areas - towns, shires and municipalities - across the ACT and Australia. At glance the ACT can be compared with other regions in Australia.

Some of the main findings for the ACT include:
  • Canberra-Queanbeyan had an annual average population growth rate of 1.5% compared to the Australian average of 1.2%, however Weston Creek-Stromlo had the lowest level of population growth (-1.8%) of any capital city region.
  • Canberra-Queanbeyan had a low proportion of persons aged 65 years and over (7.3%) compared to the national figure of 12.6%.
  • Canberra-Queanbeyan has the highest proportion of Couple families with dependent children at 45.5%, higher than the national figure of 40.6%
  • The proportion of One-parent families with dependent children in Canberra-Queanbeyan (11.4%) was higher than the national proportion (9.9%) while in North Canberra it was 13.4% and in South Canberra 13.1%.
  • Canberra-Queanbeyan had the highest proportion of people aged 15 years and over attending a tertiary institution (9.0%) compared to 4.8% nationally.
  • Canberra-Queanbeyan had a high labour force participation rate at 71.1% compared to 61.9% nationally with a comparatively low unemployment rate of 7.3% compared to 9.2% nationally. Tuggeranong had the second highest labour force participation rate of any region (77.2%).
  • Canberra-Queanbeyan had the highest proportion of people employed in the service industries (89.9%).
  • Three ACT suburbs ranked in the top ten regions for median gross weekly individual income, South Canberra, ($468) Tuggeranong and Woden Valley ($466) well above the national figure of $292.
  • Canberra-Queanbeyan has the highest proportion of occupied dwellings owned with a mortgage 35.0% (nationally 26.5%), while at the regional level Tuggeranong had the highest mortgages at 50.4%.
  • The proportion of households renting their dwelling from public housing authorities was 19.5% in North Canberra and 16.7% in South Canberra compared with 5.3% nationally.

Australia in Profile: a Regional Analysis (cat. no. 2032.0) is available at ABS bookshops. Other Media Releases which look Nationally and at individual States and Territories are also available from this site.