Arafura

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 8,807 people in Arafura of these 52.0% were male and 48.0% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 79.0% of the population.

The median age of people in Arafura was 26 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 28.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 2.6% of the population.

Of people in Arafura aged 15 years and over, 48.0% were married and 7.2% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Arafura was 37 years and the median age of people never married was 27 years.

In Arafura, of people aged 15 years and over, 39.2% of people were in a registered marriage and 10.4% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Arafura was 38 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 35 years.

In Arafura 33.0% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 43.0% were in primary school, 22.7% in secondary school and 6.9% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Arafura were Australian Aboriginal 69.8%, Australian 8.2%, English 6.1%, Irish 2.4% and Scottish 1.9%.

In Arafura, 94.5% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 0.5%, England 0.3%, Papua New Guinea 0.2%, Philippines 0.2% and Taiwan 0.1%.

In Arafura, 91.7% of people had both parents born in Australia and 5.5% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Arafura were Catholic 30.9%, Uniting Church 21.6%, No Religion 12.1%, Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions 10.4% and Anglican 8.6%.

In Arafura 22.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Tiwi 22.7%, Kunwinjku 18.1%, Burarra 9.6%, Maung 4.1% and Ndjebbana (Gunavidji) 3.7%.

Employment

There were 3,291 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Arafura. Of these 53.0% were employed full time, 25.4% were employed part-time and 12.7% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Arafura, 9.8% worked 1 to 15 hours, 11.1% worked 16 to 24 hours and 43.5% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Arafura was 39 years and for people who were employed part-time was 38 years.

The most common occupations in Arafura included Labourers 23.1%, Professionals 21.7%, Community and Personal Service Workers 14.0%, Technicians and Trades Workers 10.1%, Managers 8.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 7.7%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 6.3% and Sales Workers 3.8%.

Of the employed people in Arafura, the most common responses for industry of employment included Civic, Professional and Other Interest Group Services 15.6%, Local Government Administration 14.6%, School Education 8.3%, Metal Ore Mining 8.1% and Accommodation 4.3%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Arafura was $288.

In Arafura, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Walked only 43.7%, Car, as driver 22.5%, Car, as passenger 13.2%, Bus 4.2% and Bicycle 2.0%. On the day, 4.6% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 36.4% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Arafura, of people aged 15 years and over, 72.7% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 52.1% provided care for children and 15.7% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 11.0% 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 Arafura, 28.3% worked 5 to 14 hours, 8.1% worked 15 to 29 hours and 3.5% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Arafura, 51.9% were couple families with children, 22.2% were couple families without children and 22.9% were one parent families.

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

Weekly incomes

In Arafura, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,587 and those without children was $2,072.

Employment status of couple families

In Arafura, of couple families with children, 17.7% had both partners employed full-time, 7.8% had both employed part-time and 9.3% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Arafura, 80.1% of private dwellings were occupied and 19.9% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Arafura, 83.3% were separate houses, 1.1% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 12.3% were flats, units or apartments and 3.0% were other dwellings.

In Arafura, of occupied private dwellings 8.7% had 1 bedroom, 20.8% had 2 bedrooms and 50.8% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.8. The average household size was 4.1 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Arafura, 1.8% were owned outright, 0.6% were owned with a mortgage and 91.8% were rented.

Household composition

In Arafura, of all households, 80.9% were family households, 17.5% were single person households and 1.6% were group households.

In Arafura, 18.8% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 10.7% 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 Arafura, 30.4% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 14.4% had two registered motor vehicles and 5.1% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Arafura, there were 6,957 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 3,497 (or 50.3%) were male and 3,460 (or 49.7%) were female. The median age was 23 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 Arafura, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 5.2, with 2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,062.

In Arafura, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $42 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $325.