Southern Downs

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 47,669 people in Southern Downs of these 49.4% were male and 50.6% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.7% of the population.

The median age of people in Southern Downs was 41 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 21.4% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 18.0% of the population.

Of people in Southern Downs aged 15 years and over, 53.1% were married and 12.1% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Southern Downs was 54 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Southern Downs, of people aged 15 years and over, 53.6% of people were in a registered marriage and 9.8% were in a de facto marriage.

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

In Southern Downs 27.0% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 35.3% were in primary school, 22.8% in secondary school and 10.9% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Southern Downs were Australian 32.0%, English 29.9%, Irish 9.6%, Scottish 7.6% and German 5.7%.

In Southern Downs, 85.6% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 2.2%, New Zealand 1.4%, Italy 0.7%, Philippines 0.6% and Netherlands 0.4%.

In Southern Downs, 79.9% of people had both parents born in Australia and 11.7% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Southern Downs were Catholic 27.2%, Anglican 26.8%, No Religion 14.7%, Uniting Church 7.5% and Presbyterian and Reformed 4.4%.

In Southern Downs 91.6% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 1.0%, German 0.3%, Filipino 0.3%, Afrikaans 0.2% and Mandarin 0.2%.

Employment

There were 21,784 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Southern Downs. Of these 58.9% were employed full time, 30.3% were employed part-time and 4.5% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Southern Downs, 11.2% worked 1 to 15 hours, 8.9% worked 16 to 24 hours and 46.5% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Southern Downs was 44 years and for people who were employed part-time was 43 years.

The most common occupations in Southern Downs included Managers 18.8%, Labourers 17.1%, Technicians and Trades Workers 13.0%, Professionals 11.3%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 10.6%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 9.9%, Community and Personal Service Workers 9.2% and Sales Workers 8.5%.

Of the employed people in Southern Downs, the most common responses for industry of employment included Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 9.0%, School Education 6.4%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.7%, Road Freight Transport 3.4% and Supermarket and Grocery Stores 3.2%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Southern Downs was $471.

In Southern Downs, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 60.4%, Car, as passenger 6.9%, Walked only 5.7%, Truck 2.1% and Other 1.0%. On the day, 0.5% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 67.5% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Southern Downs, of people aged 15 years and over, 70.3% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 27.6% provided care for children and 12.0% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 24.9% 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 Downs, 24.4% worked 5 to 14 hours, 13.7% worked 15 to 29 hours and 14.4% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Southern Downs, 39.1% were couple families with children, 45.1% were couple families without children and 14.5% were one parent families.

In Southern Downs 16.9% of single parents were male and 83.1% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Southern Downs, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,695 and those without children was $1,444.

Employment status of couple families

In Southern Downs, of couple families with children, 19.8% had both partners employed full-time, 4.0% had both employed part-time and 21.5% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Southern Downs, 85.5% of private dwellings were occupied and 14.5% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Southern Downs, 91.4% were separate houses, 1.7% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 5.4% were flats, units or apartments and 1.4% were other dwellings.

In Southern Downs, of occupied private dwellings 3.2% had 1 bedroom, 17.2% had 2 bedrooms and 44.6% 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 Southern Downs, 38.0% were owned outright, 28.3% were owned with a mortgage and 29.7% were rented.

Household composition

In Southern Downs, of all households, 70.8% were family households, 26.6% were single person households and 2.6% were group households.

In Southern Downs, 32.4% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 3.2% 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 Southern Downs, 33.8% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 36.2% had two registered motor vehicles and 19.9% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Southern Downs, there were 1,742 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 833 (or 47.8%) were male and 909 (or 52.2%) were female. The median age was 18 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 Downs, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.3, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $827.

In Southern Downs, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $200 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,192.