2030.0 - Complete Set of Social Atlases, 2001  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 28/10/2002   
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MEDIA RELEASE

October 28, 2002
Embargoed 11:30am (AEST)
146/2002

Explore your capital cities - 2001 Census Social Atlas series launched

The Australian Bureau of Statistics' 2001 Census Social Atlas series was officially launched in Perth today by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Federal Treasurer, Senator Ian Campbell.

The Social Atlas series features colour maps of the key social, demographic and economic characteristics of each capital city at the time of the 2001 Census.

Senator Campbell said the series was a rich source of information for all Australians.

"The extensive range and depth of information will be a very useful resource for many different organisations and groups in the community, particularly schools," he said.

"The Social Atlas series really is a great way to discover your capital city."

All of the social atlases feature a common set of maps on topics such as population, ethnicity, education, families, income, labour force and dwellings. They also include maps highlighting unique characteristics of individual capital cities.


"The census is a major project conducted every five years to gather information critical for the planning of our nation," Senator Campbell said.

"The 2001 Census received excellent support from the Australian public." he said.

Media please note:

The atlases for Perth, Sydney and Hobart were released at today's launch. A fact sheet summarising their main findings accompanies this media release. A comprehensive information kit containing the relevant publication and CD ROM of broadcast/print quality versions of the maps is available to the media on request for reporting purposes.

Social atlases for Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Darwin will be released over the coming months. Media will be notified of local arrangements as release dates approach.
2001 SOCIAL ATLAS SERIES - EXPLORE PERTH

The 2001 Census Social Atlas for Perth was released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.

The social atlas features colour maps of the key social, demographic and economic characteristics of your capital city, at the time of the 2001 Census.

Some of the points of interest for Perth were:

Distribution of population
Since the 1996 Census, Perth has grown by 7.2%. Much of this growth has been in the fringe areas of the city. The population density of the inner suburbs has also increased substantially since the last census. This movement has been dominated by couples where both partners are working.

Like the rest of Australia, Perth's population is ageing with the census showing 21% of the population are children under the age of 15, compared with 23% in 1991. The opposite has happened for older age groups - 16% are now aged 60 or over, compared with 14% in 1991.The highest concentrations of children were in the developing fringe areas. Most seniors were located within 10 kilometres of the city. However a high proportion of the people living in the Rockingham-Mandurah areas were also seniors.

People born overseas
33% of the population were born overseas, slightly less than the 34% in 1991. Perth's percentage of overseas born was the second highest of the all the capital cities, after Sydney. 41% of overseas born were from UK and Ireland and 18% from other European countries. 14% came from South-East Asia and 8% from New Zealand.


People with university qualifications
19% of the labour force had university qualifications compared with 12% in 1991. They were more likely to live in the western suburbs where more than 40% of the labour force were university graduates.

Unemployed people
Perth's unemployment rate was 7.9% overall. In some areas the unemployment rate was more than 17%. The highest concentration was in the north-eastern and south-eastern suburbs and in the Rockingham-Mandurah area.

People who travel to work
80% of employed people travel to work by car. Of all people travelling to work by car, 8% travelled as passengers. The highest proportions of people who travelled to work by car live in the outer areas of Perth. Conversely, only 9% (45,000) of employed people travelled to work by public transport.

People that use the Internet at home
Over 400,000 (34%) people aged 5 years or more used the Internet at home (in the week before census night). Of these people, 75% accessed the Internet at home, 55% were aged less than 35 years and 37% were attending school or undertaking tertiary studies.
2001 SOCIAL ATLAS SERIES - EXPLORE SYDNEY

The 2001 Census Social Atlas for Sydney was released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.

The social atlas features colour maps of the key social, demographic and economic characteristics of your capital city, at the time of the 2001 Census.

Some of the points of interest for Sydney were:

Population change
The population of Sydney grew by 6.5% between the 1996 and 2001 Censuses (about 213,000 people). Most of the areas of increase were in the outer regions of Sydney, where new housing developments have resulted in strong population growth. There was also considerable urban consolidation in the inner city, but not as much growth as in the outer regions.

Indigenous Australians
31,174 people in Sydney (or 1% of the Sydney population) indicated they were Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders). The highest percentages of Indigenous Australians lived in La Perouse and Phillip Bay to the south of the city.
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Recent arrivals
Sydney had the highest proportion of recent arrivals of any Australian capital city in 2001. There were 228,000 overseas born people in Sydney who arrived in Australia after 1 January 1996, intending to stay for at least a year. This was 7.2% of the population. Students studying at tertiary institutions made up 18% of recent arrivals in Sydney.

People with university qualifications
Sydney recorded one of the highest rates of people with university qualifications of all Australian capital cities (second after Canberra). There were 412,000 people in the Sydney labour force who held a degree or higher qualification. This number has increased since the 1991 Census and represented 25% of the Sydney labour force in 2001, compared with 16% ten years earlier.

People with university qualifications were heavily concentrated around the harbour side suburbs in the inner, eastern and northern areas, especially the upper North Shore and Middle Harbour.

Average household size
Sydney recorded the largest average household size in all Australian capital cities in 2001 with 2.7 people.

People living alone
After Darwin, Sydney had the second lowest proportion of people living alone of any Australian capital city in 2001. There were 266,000 Sydney people living alone, representing 21% of all households. People living alone were most prominent in the older age groups. The inner-city suburbs of Rushcutters Bay, Elizabeth Bay, Potts Point and Waterloo all held high concentrations of people living alone.

Couples with dependent children
The proportion of couples with dependent children has decreased steadily over the last decade in Sydney, from 44% in 1991 to 41% in 2001.

People who used the Internet at home
Just over 1 million Sydney people (36% of the population aged 5 years and over) used the Internet at home (in the week before the Census night) slightly more than in Perth. The suburbs in the Ku-ring-gai and Hornsby regions held the highest proportions of home Internet users. Over half (58%) of people who reported using the Internet at home were aged less than 35 years.


2001 SOCIAL ATLAS SERIES - EXPLORE HOBART

The 2001 Census Social Atlas for Hobart was released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.

The Social Atlas features colour maps of the key social, demographic and economic characteristics of your capital city, at the time of the 2001 Census.

Some of the points of interest for Hobart were:

People aged 65 years or older
Hobart had the second highest proportion (14%) of people aged 65 years or older, after Adelaide.

People with university qualifications
Since 1991 the proportion of people with university qualifications in the Hobart labour force has increased from 13% to 21%. They were concentrated around the central and southern suburbs. Conversely, those without qualifications has fallen over the last ten years from 62% to 52% of people in the labour force.

People living alone

Hobart had the highest proportion (12%) of people living alone of all Australian capital cities with 38% being 65 years or older.

One-parent families with dependent children
In 2001 Hobart recorded the highest percentage (14%) of one-parent families with dependent children of all capital cities. Conversely, Hobart had the lowest percentage (35%) of families made up of couples with dependent children.


People who travelled to work by public transport
At the 2001 Census only 7% of employed people in Hobart travelled to work by public transport compared with 9% in 1991.

Dwellings with no motor vehicles
13% of all occupied dwellings in Hobart had no motor vehicle garaged at or near the dwelling. This was the second highest percentage of all Australian capital cities, after Sydney.

People who used the Internet at home
At the 2001 Census 28% of the Hobart population aged 5 years and over had used the Internet at home in the previous week. This was the lowest rate of all Australian capital cities.