Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 137,007 people in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven of these 48.8% were male and 51.2% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.7% of the population.

The median age of people in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven was 46 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 18.2% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 22.8% of the population.

Of people in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven aged 15 years and over, 52.0% were married and 13.5% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven was 57 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, of people aged 15 years and over, 52.7% of people were in a registered marriage and 8.9% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven was 57 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 41 years.

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven 28.3% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 27.2% were in primary school, 24.0% in secondary school and 14.8% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven were English 32.0%, Australian 31.6%, Irish 8.9%, Scottish 7.8% and German 2.9%.

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, 80.7% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 5.3%, New Zealand 1.3%, Scotland 0.7%, Germany 0.6% and Netherlands 0.5%.

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, 69.2% of people had both parents born in Australia and 17.9% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven were Anglican 29.5%, Catholic 22.8%, No Religion 19.7%, Uniting Church 4.8% and Presbyterian and Reformed 4.1%.

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven 91.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 0.5%, German 0.4%, Greek 0.3%, Spanish 0.2% and Dutch 0.2%.

Employment

There were 56,693 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven. Of these 53.2% were employed full time, 34.1% were employed part-time and 6.4% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, 13.5% worked 1 to 15 hours, 11.0% worked 16 to 24 hours and 40.1% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven was 44 years and for people who were employed part-time was 45 years.

The most common occupations in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven included Professionals 17.9%, Technicians and Trades Workers 16.6%, Managers 12.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 12.2%, Community and Personal Service Workers 12.0%, Labourers 10.6%, Sales Workers 10.3% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 5.8%.

Of the employed people in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 5.6%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 5.0%, Residential Care Services 3.2%, Defence 3.0% and Hospitals 2.9%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven was $463.

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 65.0%, Car, as passenger 5.5%, Walked only 3.7%, Truck 1.9% and Other 0.6%. On the day, 1.6% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 70.7% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, of people aged 15 years and over, 71.2% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 25.9% provided care for children and 13.2% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 20.9% 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 Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, 25.5% worked 5 to 14 hours, 14.7% worked 15 to 29 hours and 13.4% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, 35.7% were couple families with children, 46.7% were couple families without children and 16.5% were one parent families.

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven 18.4% of single parents were male and 81.6% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,962 and those without children was $1,694.

Employment status of couple families

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, of couple families with children, 14.6% had both partners employed full-time, 4.5% had both employed part-time and 18.7% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, 76.1% of private dwellings were occupied and 23.9% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, 89.2% were separate houses, 5.8% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 3.4% were flats, units or apartments and 1.4% were other dwellings.

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, of occupied private dwellings 3.1% had 1 bedroom, 15.5% had 2 bedrooms and 43.7% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.2. The average household size was 2.4 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, 42.8% were owned outright, 29.8% were owned with a mortgage and 23.8% were rented.

Household composition

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, of all households, 70.6% were family households, 27.2% were single person households and 2.3% were group households.

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, 32.3% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 5.3% 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 Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, 40.1% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 35.8% had two registered motor vehicles and 14.8% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, there were 5,110 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 2,508 (or 49.1%) were male and 2,602 (or 50.9%) were female. The median age was 20 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 Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, 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 $856.

In Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $215 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,600.