Far West and Orana

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 113,591 people in Far West and Orana of these 49.7% were male and 50.3% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 15.7% of the population.

The median age of people in Far West and Orana was 39 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 21.4% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.6% of the population.

Of people in Far West and Orana aged 15 years and over, 45.8% were married and 12.3% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Far West and Orana was 53 years and the median age of people never married was 27 years.

In Far West and Orana, of people aged 15 years and over, 46.6% of people were in a registered marriage and 11.3% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Far West and Orana was 53 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 36 years.

In Far West and Orana 30.1% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 29.0% were in primary school, 20.7% in secondary school and 13.4% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Far West and Orana were Australian 37.0%, English 29.5%, Irish 8.6%, Scottish 6.5% and German 2.9%.

In Far West and Orana, 88.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 1.1%, New Zealand 0.7%, Philippines 0.2%, Germany 0.2% and India 0.2%.

In Far West and Orana, 86.7% of people had both parents born in Australia and 7.0% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Far West and Orana were Catholic 29.9%, Anglican 27.1%, No Religion 14.4%, Uniting Church 7.2% and Presbyterian and Reformed 4.3%.

In Far West and Orana 91.6% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 0.2%, Cantonese 0.2%, German 0.1%, Arabic 0.1% and Greek 0.1%.

Employment

There were 51,333 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Far West and Orana. Of these 61.4% were employed full time, 26.0% were employed part-time and 6.3% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Far West and Orana, 9.4% worked 1 to 15 hours, 8.3% worked 16 to 24 hours and 48.4% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Far West and Orana was 43 years and for people who were employed part-time was 42 years.

The most common occupations in Far West and Orana included Managers 18.1%, Professionals 15.1%, Technicians and Trades Workers 13.2%, Labourers 12.0%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 11.6%, Community and Personal Service Workers 11.5%, Sales Workers 8.5% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 8.3%.

Of the employed people in Far West and Orana, the most common responses for industry of employment included Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 10.9%, School Education 6.6%, Hospitals 3.5%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.2% and Local Government Administration 3.1%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Far West and Orana was $481.

In Far West and Orana, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 61.1%, Walked only 6.8%, Car, as passenger 6.8%, Truck 2.0% and Other 0.9%. On the day, 0.8% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 68.1% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Far West and Orana, of people aged 15 years and over, 66.5% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 27.7% provided care for children and 11.8% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 21.7% of people did voluntary work through an organisation or a group.

Of people who did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census in Far West and Orana, 24.4% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.7% worked 15 to 29 hours and 11.9% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Far West and Orana, 38.5% were couple families with children, 40.2% were couple families without children and 19.6% were one parent families.

In Far West and Orana 18.0% of single parents were male and 82.0% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Far West and Orana, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,986 and those without children was $1,671.

Employment status of couple families

In Far West and Orana, of couple families with children, 23.8% had both partners employed full-time, 3.1% had both employed part-time and 20.3% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Far West and Orana, 84.3% of private dwellings were occupied and 15.7% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Far West and Orana, 89.8% were separate houses, 2.7% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 5.6% were flats, units or apartments and 1.7% were other dwellings.

In Far West and Orana, of occupied private dwellings 3.9% had 1 bedroom, 17.4% had 2 bedrooms and 44.2% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.1. The average household size was 2.4 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Far West and Orana, 37.8% were owned outright, 28.1% were owned with a mortgage and 29.5% were rented.

Household composition

In Far West and Orana, of all households, 67.9% were family households, 29.5% were single person households and 2.6% were group households.

In Far West and Orana, 33.6% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 5.4% of households had a weekly income of more than $3,000.

Mortgage & rent

Proportions are calculated using all tenure types for occupied private dwellings. This excludes visitor only and other non-classifiable households.

Proportions in this table are calculated by taking the number of households whose rent payments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure and expressing this number as a proportion of the total number of households in an area, including those households which are not renting their dwelling (excluding the small proportion of visitor only and other non-classifiable households). The nature of the income imputation means that the reported proportion may significantly overstate the true proportion. Further information on the method to impute income is available in the income fact sheet.

Proportions in this table are calculated by taking the number of households who own their dwelling, and whose mortgage payments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure and expressing this number as a proportion of the total number of households in an area, including those households which were renting their dwelling (excluding the small proportion of visitor only and other non-classifiable households). The nature of the income imputation means that the reported proportion may significantly overstate the true proportion. Further information on the method to impute income is available in the income fact sheet.

Number of motor vehicles

In Far West and Orana, 36.2% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 33.3% had two registered motor vehicles and 16.4% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Far West and Orana, there were 17,838 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 8,701 (or 48.8%) were male and 9,137 (or 51.2%) were female. The median age was 21 years.

Dwelling characteristics

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households. These tables represent occupied private dwellings where at least one Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait islander person was present.

Average number of people per bedroom includes a miscalculation. For more information see the persons per bedroom correction page.

In Far West and Orana, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.2, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $797.

In Far West and Orana, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $140 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,140.