Mer (Murray) Island (L)

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 365 people in Mer (Murray) Island (L) of these 51.0% were male and 49.0% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 94.0% of the population.

The median age of people in Mer (Murray) Island (L) was 24 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 33.7% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 5.2% of the population.

Of people in Mer (Murray) Island (L) aged 15 years and over, 29.2% were married and 5.0% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Mer (Murray) Island (L) was 54 years and the median age of people never married was 31 years.

In Mer (Murray) Island (L), of people aged 15 years and over, 26.6% of people were in a registered marriage and 34.7% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Mer (Murray) Island (L) was 54 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 39 years.

In Mer (Murray) Island (L) 30.1% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 69.7% were in primary school, 7.3% in secondary school and 2.8% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Mer (Murray) Island (L) were Torres Strait Islander 82.5%, Australian 6.4%, Australian Aboriginal 3.1%, Fijian 0.8% and Samoan 0.8%.

In Mer (Murray) Island (L), 97.0% of people were born in Australia. There were no other responses for country of birth.

In Mer (Murray) Island (L), 96.9% of people had both parents born in Australia and 1.4% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Mer (Murray) Island (L) were Anglican 64.1%, Pentecostal 15.3%, Other Christian 7.9%, Latter-day Saints 3.8% and No Religion 3.8%.

In Mer (Murray) Island (L) 7.4% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) 62.3%, Meriam Mir 19.9%, Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Kalaw Lagaw Ya 0.8%, Kriol 0.8% and Fijian 0.8%.

Employment

There were 144 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Mer (Murray) Island (L). Of these 48.6% were employed full time, 38.2% were employed part-time and 9.7% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Mer (Murray) Island (L), 8.8% worked 1 to 15 hours, 13.6% worked 16 to 24 hours and 32.8% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Mer (Murray) Island (L) was 43 years and for people who were employed part-time was 35 years.

The most common occupations in Mer (Murray) Island (L) included Labourers 33.6%, Professionals 15.2%, Community and Personal Service Workers 12.8%, Technicians and Trades Workers 12.0%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 8.0%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 6.4%, Managers 4.0% and Sales Workers 3.2%.

Of the employed people in Mer (Murray) Island (L), the most common responses for industry of employment included Local Government Administration 26.6%, School Education 14.5%, Residential Building Construction 12.9%, Civic, Professional and Other Interest Group Services 8.1% and Allied Health Services 6.5%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Mer (Murray) Island (L) was $332.

In Mer (Murray) Island (L), on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Walked only 55.3%, Car, as driver 13.8%, Car, as passenger 13.0%, Bus 7.3% and Motorbike/scooter 2.4%. On the day, 11.2% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 28.5% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Mer (Murray) Island (L), of people aged 15 years and over, 70.2% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 45.6% provided care for children and 5.4% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 11.2% 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 Mer (Murray) Island (L), 27.6% worked 5 to 14 hours, 6.6% worked 15 to 29 hours and 12.3% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Mer (Murray) Island (L), 61.2% were couple families with children, 13.8% were couple families without children and 21.2% were one parent families.

In Mer (Murray) Island (L) 0.0% of single parents were male and 100.0% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Mer (Murray) Island (L), for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,375 and those without children was $1,233.

Employment status of couple families

In Mer (Murray) Island (L), of couple families with children, 24.1% had both partners employed full-time, 5.2% had both employed part-time and 6.9% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Mer (Murray) Island (L), 78.0% of private dwellings were occupied and 22.0% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Mer (Murray) Island (L), 90.5% were separate houses, 0.0% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 0.0% were flats, units or apartments and 9.5% were other dwellings.

In Mer (Murray) Island (L), of occupied private dwellings 4.9% had 1 bedroom, 8.5% had 2 bedrooms and 24.4% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.4. The average household size was 3.7 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Mer (Murray) Island (L), 14.5% were owned outright, 0.0% were owned with a mortgage and 81.9% were rented.

Household composition

In Mer (Murray) Island (L), of all households, 79.0% were family households, 21.0% were single person households and 0.0% were group households.

In Mer (Murray) Island (L), 28.9% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 6.0% 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 Mer (Murray) Island (L), 25.6% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 8.5% had two registered motor vehicles and 0.0% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Mer (Murray) Island (L), there were 342 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 174 (or 50.9%) were male and 168 (or 49.1%) 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 Mer (Murray) Island (L), for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.7, with 1.4 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $840.

In Mer (Murray) Island (L), for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $65 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $0.