Australia

Demographics & education

In the 2006 Census (held on 8th August 2006), there were 19,855,288 people usually resident in Australia. The population has increased by 6%, or just over 1 million people, since the 2001 Census. As in 2001, female slightly outnumbered male in the population.

2.3% of the population identified themselves as being Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in the 2006 Census which is an increase of 11% or 45,000 people.

Australia's population continued to age as a result of low fertility and increased life expectancy. The median age of the resident population increased by about 2 years, to 37 years in 2006 from 35 years in 2001. The biggest change occurred in the older age groups. The proportion of the population aged 55-64 years increased from 9.4% to 11.0% between the 2001 and 2006 Censuses. Over the same period the proportion of children in the population (aged 0-14 years) decreased slightly. However, there were about 16,500 more young children aged 0-4 years in 2006 than in 2001.

Most people counted in the 2006 Census were Australian citizens (86.1%). Although the proportion of the population who are citizens decreased slightly, the number of citizens increased by about 535,000 between 2001 and 2006.

Just under half (49.6%) of the Australian resident population stated they were married in the 2006 Census, a slight decrease from 51.4% in the 2001 Census. The number and proportion of Australians stating they were separated or divorced, or never married increased from 2001.

Cultural & language diversity

In the 2006 Census, 7 out of 10 Australian residents were born in Australia, a slight decrease from 2001. Of people born overseas, the most common countries of birth were England, New Zealand, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan Province), Italy and Viet Nam.

The most common responses for religious affiliation in the 2006 Census continued to be Catholic (25.8%) and Anglican (18.7%). The proportion of the population that stated they had no religion increased to 18.7%, from 15.5% in 2001.

In the 2006 Census, the most common responses for language other than English spoken at home were Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Arabic and Mandarin. Most people counted in the 2006 Census only spoke English at home (78.5%).

Employment

The proportion of the Australian labour force which was employed at the time of the Census was 94.8%. This was an increase in the 2001 Census figure of 92.6%.

In the 2006 Census, the proportion of the labour force who were employed full-time increased to 60.7% from 59.8% in the 2001 Census while the proportion of the labour force employed part-time increased to 27.9% from 26.4% in the 2001 Census.

The proportion of the labour force which was unemployed decreased from 7.4% in 2001 to 5.2%.

In both the 2001 and 2006 Censuses, the largest occupation group for Australia was Professionals. This group had the largest proportional increase, from 18.7% in 2001 to 19.8% in 2006. The Machinery Operators and Drivers group was the only occupation group to register a decrease by 9,383 between the 2001 and 2006 Censuses.

The 2001 Census, data have been concorded to the 2006 Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), which was used for the 2006 Census.

The industry group with the largest proportion of workers in both the 2001 and 2006 Censuses was School Education with 4.5% of employed people aged 15 years and over. The group with the largest number increase between the Censuses was Hospitals by 41%.

The 2001 Census, data have been concorded to the 2006 Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), which was used for the 2006 Census.

Personal income rose 24% between the 2001 and 2006 Censuses. Family income also increased during the same period from $937 to $1,171. Household income was $782 in 2001 and increased to $1,027 in 2006.

Family composition

About 5 million families were counted in the 2006 Census. The proportion of couples without children increased from 35.7% in 2001 to 37.2% in 2006. Couples with children continue to be the most common family type, although as a proportion of all families, this type decreased slightly to 45.3% between 2001 and 2006. There was very little change in the proportion of one parent families and other families between the Censuses.

Dwelling structure

Dwellings include visitor only and other not-classifiable households unless otherwise stated

In the 2006 Census, there were 7,596,183 occupied private dwellings counted in Australia.

There were 8,426,559 private dwellings counted in Australia in the 2006 Census, an increase of 8.2% since the 2001 Census. The largest proportional change was for flats, units and apartments showing an increase of 0.9% (153,176 dwellings). The reduction in the number of dwelling types not stated was a result of better field procedures during the 2006 Census.

Of the 7.5 million occupied private dwellings counted in the 2006 Census 65% were fully owned or being purchased, slightly lower than in 2001 (66%). This change was driven by a large decrease in the proportion of occupied private dwellings that were fully owned.

In the 2006 Census, just over half (50.5%) of all occupied private dwellings being rented were rented from real estate agents, an increase from 43.8% in the 2001 Census. There was a decrease in the proportion of occupied private dwellings being rented from a State or Territory housing authority and from other landlord types.

Dwelling characteristics

Rents and mortgage repayments increased between the 2001 and 2006 Censuses. In 2006, the median weekly rent increased to $190, from $145 in 2001. The median monthly mortgage repayment increased to $1,300 in 2006, up from $867 in 2001. The average household size and the average number of people per bedroom did not change.

Household composition

In the 2006 Census, around two-thirds of all occupied private dwellings in Australia were family households. This proportion decreased slightly between 2001 and 2006. The proportion of dwellings that were occupied by lone person or group households did not change between Censuses.