Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

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SUMMARY COMMENTARY


SUMMARY CHARACTERISTICS, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

As at 30 June 2006, the preliminary Estimated Indigenous Resident Population (ERP) in Western Australia was 77,928 (3.8% of all people in Western Australia).

Some key characteristics of the Indigenous population in Western Australia, based on 2006 Census usual residence data, are listed below.

• More than half (56%) of Indigenous respondents were under 25 years of age.
• On average there were 3.5 people per Indigenous household.
• An Australian Indigenous language was spoken at home by 14% of Indigenous respondents.
• 36% and 19% of respondents aged 15 years and over stated Year 10 and Year 12 or equivalent respectively as their highest level of schooling.
• 53% of Indigenous respondents aged 15 years and over were in the labour force. Of these respondents, unemployed persons accounted for 14%.
• The most common Occupations reported were Labourers, Community and Personal Service Workers, and Technicians and Trades Workers (28%, 15% and 12% respectively).
• The most common Industries of employment reported were Public Administration and Safety (17%), Health Care and Social Assistance (16%), and Education and Training (9%).
• 62% of Indigenous households were living in rented dwellings and 30% of households were living in dwellings that were owned with or without a mortgage.

Summary Characteristics, Western Australia
			Indigenous			Non-Indigenous
			Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
			no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.
Persons(a)
Estimated Resident Population(b)			39 289	38 639	77 928	1 000 364	980 753	1 981 117
Language spoken at home
	English only		22 428	24 041	46 469	. .	. .	. .
	Australian Indigenous Languages		3 692	3 925	7 617	. .	. .	. .
	Other Languages		327	295	622	. .	. .	. .
	Total(c)		26 447	28 261	54 708	. .	. .	. .
Education
	Attending
		Pre-school	704	680	1 384	13 069	12 264	25 333
		Infants/Primary	4 633	4 318	8 951	81 413	76 759	158 172
		Secondary	2 338	2 217	4 555	55 180	54 984	110 164
		Technical or Further Educational Institution(d)	440	591	1 031	19 228	20 084	39 312
		University	227	547	774	30 892	40 930	71 822
		Other/Institution not stated(e)	1 012	1 184	2 196	13 350	15 674	29 024
		Total(c)	9 354	9 537	18 891	213 132	220 695	433 827
	Highest year of school completed(f)
		Year 12 or equivalent	2 615	3 449	6 060	314 563	337 224	651 786
		Year 11 or equivalent	2 086	2 621	4 708	81 314	84 133	165 449
		Year 10 or equivalent	5 316	6 058	11 376	188 559	185 887	374 450
		Year 9 or equivalent	1 923	1 887	3 806	41 046	39 273	80 321
		Year 8 or below	2 165	2 023	4 193	34 989	36 147	71 141
		Did not go to school	529	554	1 082	3 754	4 924	8 679
		Total(c)	14 631	16 594	31 224	664 233	687 599	1 351 832
	Highest non-school qualification(f)
		Postgraduate Degree	40	59	99	18 628	12 773	31 401
		Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate	31	78	109	7 556	12 950	20 506
		Bachelor Degree	261	646	907	77 623	93 799	171 422
		Advanced Diploma and Diploma	270	544	814	48 970	65 582	114 552
		Certificate Level	2 276	1 764	4 040	182 861	85 008	267 869
		Total(c)	2 878	3 091	5 969	335 638	270 112	605 750
Work
	Labour force status
		Employed	8 520	7 126	15 649	500 572	412 312	912 889
		Unemployed	1 428	1 180	2 603	17 292	16 341	33 632
		Total labour force	9 944	8 305	18 249	517 861	428 657	946 521
		Not in the labour force	6 769	9 522	16 287	170 479	283 170	453 649
	Top three industries for Indigenous persons(g)
		Public Administration and Safety	1 393	1 203	2 596	. .	. .	. .
		Health Care and Social Assistance	1 002	1 542	2 544	. .	. .	. .
		Education and Training	324	1 066	1 390	. .	. .	. .
	Top three industries for non-Indigenous persons(g)
		Retail Trade	. .	. .	. .	42 005	60 608	102 613
		Health Care and Social Assistance	. .	. .	. .	18 821	73 132	91 953
		Manufacturing	. .	. .	. .	66 498	20 179	86 677
	Top three occupations for Indigenous persons(g)
		Labourers	2 951	1 490	4 441	. .	. .	. .
		Community and Personal Service Workers	669	1 677	2 346	. .	. .	. .
		Technicians and Trades Workers	1 555	246	1 801	. .	. .	. .
	Top three occupations for non-Indigenous persons(g)
		Professionals	. .	. .	. .	82 729	88 809	171 538
		Technicians and Trades Workers	. .	. .	. .	128 723	21 619	150 342
		Clerical and Administrative Workers	. .	. .	. .	28 856	104 566	133 422
Mean weekly equivalised household income ($)(h)			. .	. .	447	. .	. .	777
Dwellings
Occupied private dwelling(i)			. .	. .	18 382	. .	. .	684 784
Average household size			. .	. .	3.5	. .	. .	2.5
Average number of Children under 15			. .	. .	1.2	. .	. .	0.5
Housing tenure
	Owned outright		. .	. .	1 410	. .	. .	219 360
	Owned with a mortgage		. .	. .	4 172	. .	. .	260 306
	Rented
		Private	. .	. .	3 734	. .	. .	134 129
		State/Territory housing authority	. .	. .	4 758	. .	. .	23 863
		Community housing group	. .	. .	2 063	. .	. .	2 993
		Other	-	-	685	-	-	13 186
		Landlord type not stated	. .	. .	223	. .	. .	5 731
		Total Rented	. .	. .	11 463	. .	. .	179 902
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Based on place of usual residence.
(b) Estimates at 30 June 2006 are preliminary and subject to revision. See Glossary. Note: Final estimates have now been released and are available in publication 3238.0.55.001 - Experimental Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, June 2006.
(c) Excludes persons whose response was not stated.
(d) Includes TAFE Colleges.
(e) Other includes persons who are attending but did not indicate the type of institution.
(f) Persons aged 15 years and over.
(g) Employed persons aged 15 years and over.
(h) Comprises persons in households in which there were no temporarily absent adults and all incomes were fully stated.
(i) Excludes non-classifiable households and visitor only households.
Note: . . not applicable