Christmas Island

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 2,072 people in Christmas Island of these 70.7% were male and 29.3% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.5% of the population.

The median age of people in Christmas Island was 32 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 12.8% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 3.7% of the population.

Of people in Christmas Island aged 15 years and over, 51.1% were married and 6.5% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Christmas Island was 43 years and the median age of people never married was 26 years.

In Christmas Island, of people aged 15 years and over, 56.8% of people were in a registered marriage and 6.8% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Christmas Island was 49 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 45 years.

In Christmas Island 54.0% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 9.5% were in primary school, 5.9% in secondary school and 2.6% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Christmas Island were Chinese 18.3%, Australian 11.7%, Malay 9.3%, English 8.9% and Irish 2.3%.

In Christmas Island, 31.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were Malaysia 17.9%, Iran 16.0%, Afghanistan 5.4%, Iraq 4.5% and Singapore 2.2%.

In Christmas Island, 24.7% of people had both parents born in Australia and 60.4% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Christmas Island were Buddhism 16.8%, Islam 14.7%, No Religion 9.2%, Catholic 7.1% and Anglican 3.8%.

In Christmas Island 23.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Malay 13.0%, Mandarin 11.2%, Cantonese 6.6%, Min Nan 1.0% and Thai 0.6%.

Employment

There were 816 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Christmas Island. Of these 76.2% were employed full time, 15.4% were employed part-time and 1.1% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Christmas Island, 5.7% worked 1 to 15 hours, 4.4% worked 16 to 24 hours and 52.7% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Christmas Island was 45 years and for people who were employed part-time was 42 years.

The most common occupations in Christmas Island included Technicians and Trades Workers 18.6%, Labourers 15.8%, Professionals 15.1%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 13.5%, Community and Personal Service Workers 11.3%, Managers 11.0%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 10.0% and Sales Workers 1.2%.

Of the employed people in Christmas Island, the most common responses for industry of employment included Other Non-Metallic Mineral Mining and Quarrying 16.8%, Public Order and Safety Services 13.2%, School Education 7.2%, Central Government Administration 6.6% and Local Government Administration 5.8%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Christmas Island was $1,022.

In Christmas Island, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 61.8%, Car, as passenger 9.7%, Bus 7.3%, Walked only 4.6% and Motorbike/scooter 2.0%. On the day, 7.9% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 71.8% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Christmas Island, of people aged 15 years and over, 36.5% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 13.1% provided care for children and 2.5% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 17.0% 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 Christmas Island, 14.4% worked 5 to 14 hours, 5.6% worked 15 to 29 hours and 3.7% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Christmas Island, 49.4% were couple families with children, 38.9% were couple families without children and 9.9% were one parent families.

In Christmas Island 32.4% of single parents were male and 67.6% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Christmas Island, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,567 and those without children was $2,318.

Employment status of couple families

In Christmas Island, of couple families with children, 37.3% had both partners employed full-time, 3.0% had both employed part-time and 13.9% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Christmas Island, 87.5% of private dwellings were occupied and 12.5% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Christmas Island, 39.5% were separate houses, 14.6% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 44.6% were flats, units or apartments and 0.6% were other dwellings.

In Christmas Island, of occupied private dwellings 12.2% had 1 bedroom, 27.8% had 2 bedrooms and 48.1% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.5. The average household size was 2.6 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Christmas Island, 32.3% were owned outright, 12.3% were owned with a mortgage and 50.0% were rented.

Household composition

In Christmas Island, of all households, 72.4% were family households, 23.8% were single person households and 3.9% were group households.

In Christmas Island, 8.8% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 17.8% 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 Christmas Island, 37.1% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 32.6% had two registered motor vehicles and 18.2% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Christmas Island, there were 11 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 6 (or 54.5%) were male and 5 (or 45.5%) 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 Christmas Island, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 2.5, with 1 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $3,250.

In Christmas Island, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $272 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $0.