Cape York

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 7,054 people in Cape York of these 55.6% were male and 44.4% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 49.6% of the population.

The median age of people in Cape York was 33 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 22.6% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 7.9% of the population.

Of people in Cape York aged 15 years and over, 26.3% were married and 10.2% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Cape York was 52 years and the median age of people never married was 31 years.

In Cape York, of people aged 15 years and over, 25.2% of people were in a registered marriage and 25.4% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Cape York was 53 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 36 years.

In Cape York 31.3% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 29.8% were in primary school, 14.0% in secondary school and 5.7% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Cape York were Australian Aboriginal 31.4%, Australian 18.7%, English 14.4%, Torres Strait Islander 5.4% and Irish 4.4%.

In Cape York, 81.1% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were Sri Lanka 3.1%, Afghanistan 2.7%, England 1.9%, New Zealand 1.4% and Germany 0.4%.

In Cape York, 83.1% of people had both parents born in Australia and 10.8% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Cape York were Lutheran 19.2%, Anglican 18.2%, No Religion 18.2%, Catholic 10.1% and Uniting Church 8.4%.

In Cape York 53.7% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Guugu Yimidhirr 13.0%, Aboriginal English, so described 6.6%, Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) 1.8%, Kuku Yalanji 1.7% and Kriol 0.6%.

Employment

There were 2,768 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Cape York. Of these 57.9% were employed full time, 23.4% were employed part-time and 12.6% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Cape York, 6.4% worked 1 to 15 hours, 9.3% worked 16 to 24 hours and 42.6% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Cape York was 42 years and for people who were employed part-time was 42 years.

The most common occupations in Cape York included Labourers 20.4%, Professionals 15.6%, Managers 14.1%, Community and Personal Service Workers 12.8%, Technicians and Trades Workers 11.5%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 9.5%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 8.8% and Sales Workers 4.0%.

Of the employed people in Cape York, the most common responses for industry of employment included Local Government Administration 18.7%, School Education 6.5%, Accommodation 5.2%, Hospitals 5.2% and Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 3.7%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Cape York was $371.

In Cape York, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 40.5%, Walked only 25.0%, Car, as passenger 11.0%, Bus 2.5% and Truck 2.1%. On the day, 2.8% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 51.9% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Cape York, of people aged 15 years and over, 66.4% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 29.9% provided care for children and 9.2% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 16.5% 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 Cape York, 23.2% worked 5 to 14 hours, 11.4% worked 15 to 29 hours and 12.4% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Cape York, 37.6% were couple families with children, 33.6% were couple families without children and 24.3% were one parent families.

In Cape York 20.6% of single parents were male and 79.4% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Cape York, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,627 and those without children was $1,572.

Employment status of couple families

In Cape York, of couple families with children, 22.0% had both partners employed full-time, 3.2% had both employed part-time and 12.2% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Cape York, 83.1% of private dwellings were occupied and 16.9% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Cape York, 82.8% were separate houses, 1.6% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 9.0% were flats, units or apartments and 5.8% were other dwellings.

In Cape York, of occupied private dwellings 13.2% had 1 bedroom, 22.7% had 2 bedrooms and 38.6% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.7. The average household size was 2.8 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Cape York, 22.4% were owned outright, 13.5% were owned with a mortgage and 59.2% were rented.

Household composition

In Cape York, of all households, 69.1% were family households, 28.0% were single person households and 2.9% were group households.

In Cape York, 33.5% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 3.5% 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 Cape York, 39.1% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 23.7% had two registered motor vehicles and 11.6% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Cape York, there were 3,501 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 1,744 (or 49.8%) were male and 1,757 (or 50.2%) were female. The median age was 24 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 Cape York, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.9, with 1.5 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $858.

In Cape York, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $100 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,344.