SYDNEY - CITY AND INNER SOUTH

Sydney - City and Inner South is bounded by the Sydney airport to the south, extends north to Sydney harbour and includes the central business district. It has a land area of approximately 66 square kilometres. The University of Sydney, the University of Technology Sydney, the University of New South Wales and Sydney TAFE have campuses situated in this region. In 2011, Sydney - City and Inner South had one of the highest population densities of all SA4s in Australia (4333 persons per square kilometre) (Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2012 (cat. no. 3218.0)). In 2011, approximately 202,400 people aged between 20-64 years lived in this region.

From 2001 to 2011, the rate of attainment of higher level qualifications in Sydney - City and Inner South increased from 44.7% to 58.4% (13.7 percentage points), exceeding the national average in both years (38.3% and 49.9%). The type of higher level qualifications that increased the most was bachelor degrees, rising from 20.7% to 27.9%.

Age group	2001	2011	Change
	%	%	percentage points
20-29 yrs	47.2	56.2	9.0
30-39 yrs	53.3	68.0	14.7
40-49 yrs	42.1	58.2	16.1
50-59 yrs	32.8	49.6	16.8
60-64 yrs	23.6	41.3	17.7
Total 20-64 yrs	44.7	58.4	13.7
Source: ABS Censuses of Population and Housing, 2001 and 2011

Between 2001 and 2011, the working-age population in Sydney - City and Inner South increased by 30.2%. This increase was mainly among people aged 20-39 years.

In 2011, a larger proportion of those without a higher level qualification in Sydney - City and Inner South (20.3%) were studying for one, compared with Australia (9.8%). Most people who were studying for their first qualification were 20-29 years old (84.7%). This is consistent with the location of three universities in the region.


Sydney - City and Inner South had a higher proportion of 20-64 year olds who had arrived from overseas since 2002 compared with Australia (20.6% and 9.7% respectively). A larger proportion of those in Sydney - City and Inner South who had arrived from overseas since 2002 had higher level qualifications than the Australian average, in particular those aged 20-29 years (65.3% compared with 48.0%) and 30-39 years (80.7% and 58.1%).

People aged 30-39 years who had a higher level qualification in this region were more likely to be employed (88.2%) than nationally (84.8%). However, those aged 20-29 years were less likely to be employed (82.1% compared with 83.6% nationally), and more likely not to be in the labour force (13.0% compared with 11.5%), indicating people in this age bracket were continuing to study for other qualifications.

A higher proportion of 60-64 year olds with a qualification were employed in this region (63.6%) than nationally (60.7%). Just under one third of 60-64 year olds (32.1%) were not in the labour force, slightly less than Australia as a whole (36.5%).

Between 2001 and 2011, the median weekly household income in Sydney - City and Inner South increased 63% from $955 to $1,561. This was higher than for Greater Sydney as a whole which increased by 46% from $988 to $1,444.

In summary, Sydney - City and Inner South had the highest rate of attainment of higher level qualifications of the top five regions in Australia. It is a highly urbanised area. There are many tertiary institutions situated in the region. The region has a younger population profile, has experienced above average growth in recent overseas arrivals, who were more likely to have higher level qualifications than the rest of Australia. The region also had higher median weekly household income than the rest of Sydney.