4123.4 - South Australia's Young People, 1996  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 25/11/1998   
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MEDIA RELEASE

November 25, 1998
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
127/98
New picture of young people in South Australia

A new publication released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the National Youth Affairs Research Scheme uses 1996 Census data to provide a unique insight into 12 to 25 year-olds in South Australia.

The publication examines young people in terms of their distribution around the State, their cultural diversity, living arrangements, education status and working life. Additionally, it compares South Australia's young people with the rest of the nation, and provides summary data on young people for all local government areas in South Australia.

Among the publication's key findings:

  • Young people represented 19.5 per cent of the South Australia population - the lowest proportion of all States and Territories.
  • Young people make up a declining proportion of all people in South Australia, down by four per cent from 1986 to 1996, while the overall count of young people decreased by 11 per cent in the same 10 years.
  • Ten per cent of South Australia's young people were born overseas compared with the national figure of 14 per cent, although this was a much smaller proportion than among people aged 26 years and over - 29 per cent of whom were born overseas.
  • Among overseas-born young people the leading countries of birth were the United Kingdom (24 per cent), Viet Nam (12 per cent), New Zealand (seven per cent), and Malaysia (six per cent).
  • Over 11 per cent (31,091) young people spoke a language other than English at home. The most common languages were Italian, Greek and Chinese languages.
  • Most 12 to 25 year-olds were still living with their parents, either as dependent children (under 15 years) or dependent students (aged 15 to 24 years) - both 21 per cent; or as non-dependent children (aged over 15 years) - 20 per cent.
  • Living arrangements varied between cultural groups - 25 per cent of Indigenous young females but only 16 per cent of those from non-main English-speaking countries had moved from the family home to form partnerships and their own families.
  • From 1991 to 1996 there was an increase in the proportions of young people attending school (34 per cent to 37 per cent) and higher education institutions (eight per cent to ten per cent).
  • 20 per cent of 15-25 year-olds attending secondary school were employed, 94 per cent of them in part-time employment.
  • Between 1991 and 1996, the proportion of young people in the labour force who were working full-time decreased from 35 per cent to 31 per cent.

Details are in South Australia's Young People, 1996 (cat. no. 4123.4) available in ABS bookshops.