Meekatharra (S)

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 1,377 people in Meekatharra (S) of these 59.7% were male and 40.3% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 32.8% of the population.

The median age of people in Meekatharra (S) was 34 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 18.6% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 5.9% of the population.

Of people in Meekatharra (S) aged 15 years and over, 32.8% were married and 11.8% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Meekatharra (S) was 47 years and the median age of people never married was 31 years.

In Meekatharra (S), of people aged 15 years and over, 28.9% of people were in a registered marriage and 22.4% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Meekatharra (S) was 52 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 38 years.

In Meekatharra (S) 34.4% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 17.8% were in primary school, 9.1% in secondary school and 4.7% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Meekatharra (S) were Australian 29.1%, English 20.7%, Australian Aboriginal 7.5%, Irish 5.6% and Scottish 3.8%.

In Meekatharra (S), 68.2% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 4.3%, England 3.1%, Philippines 0.7%, Zimbabwe 0.7% and China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 0.7%.

In Meekatharra (S), 70.3% of people had both parents born in Australia and 20.3% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Meekatharra (S) were No Religion 28.3%, Catholic 13.6%, Anglican 11.9%, Seventh-day Adventist 6.8% and Christian, nfd 2.8%.

In Meekatharra (S) 72.8% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Martu Wangka 1.4%, German 0.5%, Maori (New Zealand) 0.5%, Tagalog 0.4% and Italian 0.3%.

Employment

There were 672 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Meekatharra (S). Of these 74.1% were employed full time, 14.0% were employed part-time and 3.4% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Meekatharra (S), 6.3% worked 1 to 15 hours, 5.1% worked 16 to 24 hours and 68.5% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Meekatharra (S) was 39 years and for people who were employed part-time was 51 years.

The most common occupations in Meekatharra (S) included Machinery Operators And Drivers 22.9%, Technicians and Trades Workers 18.4%, Professionals 13.1%, Labourers 12.4%, Managers 11.9%, Community and Personal Service Workers 8.3%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 7.6% and Sales Workers 2.3%.

Of the employed people in Meekatharra (S), the most common responses for industry of employment included Metal Ore Mining 21.5%, Other Mining Support Services 10.2%, School Education 8.7%, Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 7.1% and Exploration 4.2%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Meekatharra (S) was $920.

In Meekatharra (S), on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 26.4%, Walked only 25.6%, Bus 13.3%, Other 9.6% and Car, as passenger 8.5%. On the day, 14.9% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 34.2% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Meekatharra (S), of people aged 15 years and over, 45.7% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 22.0% provided care for children and 5.5% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 12.6% 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 Meekatharra (S), 17.9% worked 5 to 14 hours, 7.3% worked 15 to 29 hours and 6.7% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Meekatharra (S), 34.3% were couple families with children, 40.8% were couple families without children and 22.4% were one parent families.

In Meekatharra (S) 0.0% of single parents were male and 100.0% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Meekatharra (S), for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,187 and those without children was $2,094.

Employment status of couple families

In Meekatharra (S), of couple families with children, 21.6% had both partners employed full-time, 3.9% had both employed part-time and 12.4% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Meekatharra (S), 80.6% of private dwellings were occupied and 19.4% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Meekatharra (S), 80.7% were separate houses, 5.0% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 4.7% were flats, units or apartments and 4.0% were other dwellings.

In Meekatharra (S), of occupied private dwellings 8.6% had 1 bedroom, 12.3% had 2 bedrooms and 52.3% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.2. The average household size was 2.5 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Meekatharra (S), 20.9% were owned outright, 8.3% were owned with a mortgage and 62.3% were rented.

Household composition

In Meekatharra (S), of all households, 62.1% were family households, 33.9% were single person households and 4.0% were group households.

In Meekatharra (S), 30.1% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 5.2% 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 Meekatharra (S), 42.0% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 21.0% had two registered motor vehicles and 12.0% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Meekatharra (S), there were 452 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 203 (or 44.9%) were male and 249 (or 55.1%) were female. The median age was 26 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 Meekatharra (S), for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.4, with 1.3 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $644.

In Meekatharra (S), for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $120 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $417.