This variable records the dollar amount of rent paid by households on a weekly basis for the dwelling in which they were counted on Census night.
A private dwelling is defined in dwelling structure (STRD) and can include caravans in caravan parks, occupied tents, and houseboats.
In Census products such as QuickStats, ranges are used rather than dollar amounts. The ranges are listed in rent (weekly) ranges (RNTRD).
Scope
Occupied private dwellings being rented
Categories
Code
Category
0000-9999
$0 to $9,999 singly or more
&&&&
Not stated
@@@@
Not applicable
Number of categories: 10,002
Not applicable (@@@@) category comprises:
occupied private dwellings with tenure type (TEND) of 'Owned outright', 'Owned with a mortgage', 'Purchased under a shared equity scheme', 'Occupied rent free', 'Occupied under a life tenure scheme', 'Other' and 'Not stated'
Is this dwelling: (please open this section to view response categories)
Image
Description
This image shows a question from the 2026 Census online form. This question asks: Is the dwelling at 11 Fake Street:
Underneath the question text, the instructional text states: Include owners of caravans, manufactured homes or houseboats in ‘Owned with a mortgage’ or ‘Owned outright’ regardless of whether or not the site is owned. A shared equity scheme is a government or not-for-profit scheme - assisting people on lower incomes to buy a home by sharing around 30-40% of the ownership. Life tenure schemes are a common arrangement in retirement villages. Include leaseholds, and loan and license agreements in ‘Occupied under a life tenure scheme’.
The response options are: Owned outright; Owned with a mortgage; Purchased under a shared equity scheme; Rented; Occupied rent free; Occupied under a life tenure scheme; Other.
How much does the household pay for this dwelling?
Image
Description
This image shows a question from the 2026 Census online form. This question asks: How much does the household pay for 11 Fake Street?
Underneath the question text, the instructional text states: Include rent and mortgage repayments and site fees if the dwelling is a caravan or manufactured home in a caravan park or manufactured home estate. Exclude water rates, council rates, repairs, maintenance, body corporate and other fees. If no payments, please select '$0 or Nil payments'.
Underneath the instructional text, is a clickable More Information header. Once clicked, the More Information is shown, and states: If exact amount is not known, please provide your best estimate.
The response options are: $, followed by numeric free text field, followed by .00 per week; OR $, followed by numeric free text field, followed by .00 per fortnight; $, followed by numeric free text field, followed by .00 per month; OR $0 or Nil payments.
How this variable is created
This variable is derived from the tenure type and household payments questions on the Census form.
Household payment information is coded directly from numeric responses provided on the Census form. Where rent is reported on a fortnightly or monthly basis, the amount is converted to a weekly amount. Responses to the tenure type question determine whether the recorded payments are classified as rent or mortgage repayments.
This variable applies only to rented dwellings; all other responses to the tenure type question, including ‘Occupied rent free’ and ‘Not stated’, are coded as ‘Not applicable’.
History and changes
Information about how much rent people pay for a private dwelling has been collected in every Census since 1911.
Since 1996, the Census form has asked respondents to record the exact dollar amount of rent paid, rather than selecting from ranges.
In 2021, the coding was changed so that dwellings marked as ‘Occupied rent free’ in the tenure type question were coded as ‘Not applicable’. The $0 category (0000) was removed.
In 2026, the $0 category (0000) was reinstated. The label for the highest rent category was also revised from ‘$9,999’ to ‘$9,999 or more’ to clarify that it includes all values at or above $9,999.
