2032.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Australia in Profile -- A Regional Analysis, 2001  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 16/01/2004   
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MEDIA RELEASE

January 16, 2004
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
2004
Queensland Coastal Population Amongst Oldest In Australia

Some of the oldest populations in Australia were found in Queensland coastal areas popular with retirees, according to a report released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

In the Sunshine Coast (Statistical Sub-Division, or SSD) almost one in five people were aged 65 years and over, compared to one in eight in Australia as a whole.

The report used results from the 2001 Census of Population and Housing to describe the major differences in the socio-demographic characteristics of people living in different parts of Australia.

Some major findings of the report relating to Queensland include:
  • Regions with higher than average proportions of older couples were found along the east coast of Australia in areas such as the Sunshine Coast (SSD) and the Redcliffe City (SSD) in Queensland.
  • Younger couples without children made up a higher proportion of families in inner city areas than in other regions. They made up 20% of all families in the inner city area of Brisbane.
  • The highest rates of computer use at home were recorded in capital city areas like the Western Inner Brisbane (Statistical Region Sector, or SRS), where six out of ten people used a computer at home in the week prior to the 2001 Census.
  • The lowest rates of Internet use at home occurred in the remote areas of South West and Central West Queensland (16%).

Further information is in Census of Population and Housing: Australia in Profile - A Regional Analysis (cat. no. 2032.0).

Media Note: The report was based on ABS geographical areas called Statistical Divisions (SDs). However, to give more evenly sized regions, SDs in populous areas have generally been disaggregated to Statistical Subdivisions (SSDs) or Statistical Region Sectors (SRSs). Specifically, information is presented for 28 regions in Queensland, including 17 in Brisbane.