NORTHERN TERRITORY


AN ANALYSIS OF SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF GUNN-PALMERSTON CITY - A HIGH POPULATION TURNOVER STATISTICAL LOCAL AREA

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Introduction

Gunn-Palmerston City: Characteristics of the area and usual residents

People who arrived in, departed or did not move from Gunn-Palmerston City


Introduction

Four of the five Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) with the greatest population turnover in the Northern Territory were in urban areas. This chapter presents some data for these five SLAs (see Table 8.1), then discusses the characteristics of one SLA as an example. In the Northern Territory, Gunn-Palmerston City was chosen as an example of a satellite city.

To view an image of this SLA via Google Maps Australia please click on the following link: Gunn-Palmerston City.

TABLE 8.1. HIGH POPULATION TURNOVER SLAs - Northern Territory
	2001 Census count(a)	2006 Census count	Census count change	Arrivals(b)	Departures(c)	Net migration(c)	Population flow(c)	Population turnover(c)
SLA(d)	psns	psns	psns	psns	psns	psns	psns	%
City - Remainder	2 791	2 301	-490	1 440	1 532	-92	2 972	174.1
Jabiru (T)	1 108	1 139	31	447	596	-149	1 043	146.9
Durack	2 393	2 687	294	1 595	1 579	16	3 174	145.5
City - Inner	2 196	2 482	286	1 317	1 269	48	2 586	143.4
Gunn-Palmerston City	1 195	2 379	1 184	1 409	1 061	348	2 470	134.2
(a) Based on 2006 Census boundaries
(b) Excludes people aged 0-4 years and those who did not state where they lived 5 years ago
(c) Excludes people aged 0-4 years, those who did not state where they lived 5 years ago, and overseas departures, meaning these data are estimated on a different basis than the 2006 Census count (for further information about how Population turnover is calculated, refer to Explanatory Note 14)
(d) Excludes unincorporated areas and SLAs with a population of less than 500 people
Source: Census of Population and Housing, 2006 and Census of Population and Housing, 2001
Note: This table is based on place of usual residence. Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data.

Gunn-Palmerston City: Characteristics of the area and usual residents

Gunn-Palmerston City was chosen for discussion as it is a fast growing community; between the 2001 and 2006 Censuses this SLA grew by 99.1% and recorded the fifth largest population turnover (134.2%) of all SLAs in the Northern Territory. It is located at the centre of a satellite city, approximately twenty kilometres to the south-east of the capital city of Darwin.

Age

The median age of residents in Gunn-Palmerston City SLA at the 2006 Census was 27 years; 4 years younger than the median age of residents in the Northern Territory and 10 years younger than the median age of residents in Australia. The most common age group of residents in Gunn-Palmerston was 0-14 years (31.2%) followed by 30-44 years (30.2%), compared with 19.8% and 21.8% for these age groups respectively for Australia. Almost 55% of people living in Gunn-Palmerston were aged under 30 years.

Housing

Most occupied private dwellings in the Gunn-Palmerston City SLA were either rented (47.8%) or being purchased (46.1%) - proportions that are consistent with a young, growing area. Only 6.1% of occupied private dwellings were fully owned. In comparison, the proportions for Australia were 29.0% rented, 35.1% being purchased and 35.5% fully owned.

Employment

Almost half (45.9%) of the employed residents of Gunn-Palmerston City worked within the Darwin City Statistical Subdivision (SSD). (Gunn-Palmerston City is part of the Palmerston East Arm SSD). More than 35% of its usual residents aged 15 years and over earned $1,000 or more per week, compared with 19.7% of residents in Australia.

Robertson Army Barracks is located quite close to Gunn-Palmerston City and the influence of the barracks appears to be evident in Census data. Almost 40% of rented dwellings in Gunn-Palmerston had a government-employer landlord (including the Defence Housing Authority), compared with 1.4% of rented dwellings in Australia. The industry division (using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (ANZSIC), 2006) that recorded the highest proportion of employed residents in Gunn-Palmerston was Public administration and safety (431 people or 36.3%), with most of those people working in the Defence subdivision (60.4%).


People who arrived in, departed or did not move from Gunn-Palmerston City

Following is a discussion of the characteristics of three populations relating to Gunn-Palmerston City: arrivals to the SLA within the five years to the 2006 Census; departures from the SLA within the same time period; and those who did not move SLA.

At the 2006 Census 76.5% of usual residents in Gunn-Palmerston City (excluding people aged 0-4 years and those who did not state where they lived five years ago) were new arrivals to the SLA (i.e. arrived within the last five years). Just over half (50.4%) of these arrivals were from interstate, 45.8% were from within the Northern Territory and 3.8% were from overseas. The majority (68.4%) of departures were to interstate (this analysis excludes departures overseas, which are unable to be counted using Census data).

Age

Arrivals and departures had a very similar age profile, most arrivals (1,208 or 85.7%) and most departures (909 or 85.7%) were aged under 45 years. The most common age group for each was 30-44 years, with around one in three arrivals and departures in this age group (see Graph 8.1 and Graph 8.2). For people who had not moved SLA, the most common age group was also 30-44 years (33.5%). However, slightly fewer people were aged under 45 years (71.8%), compared with arrivals and departures (see Graph 8.3).

Income and employment

There was a high degree of similarity in the income and employment data for the three population groups of this study, especially regarding:

• The proportions of people in the labour force for each population group (arrivals, departures or had not moved SLA) were 84.1%, 82.4% and 84.4% respectively. These compare with a labour force participation rate of 64.6% for Australia.
• The proportions who were aged 15 years and over who were earning $1,000 or more per week for each population group (arrivals, departures or had not moved SLA) were 36.7%, 31.6% and 33.5% respectively. In contrast, less than 20% of residents in Australia aged 15 years and over earned $1,000 or more per week.
• Public administration and safety was the top industry division of employment for arrivals, departures and people who had not moved SLA.
• More than 14% (125) of employed arrivals and 12.6% (79) of employed departures described their occupations (using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), 2006) as Protective service workers.

Within these overall similarities, one point of difference was observed. Unlike arrivals and departures, who were most likely to be working in the Defence industry subdivision (64.3% and 72.2% respectively), those who had not moved SLA were more likely to be working in the Public Administration subdivision (42.9%).

Please note: All data presented in this publication relate to person or dwelling characteristics at the time of the 2006 Census. As arrivals and departures may have moved at any time in the five years to the 2006 Census their characteristics could have been different at the time of their migration. The data presented also only captures a person's place of usual residence at the 2006 Census and five years prior to the Census (where they have answered that question). People could have moved residence numerous times between these time periods. Arrivals estimates exclude people who did not state where they lived five years ago, and those who were under the age of 5 at the time of the 2006 Census. In addition to those exclusions, estimates of departures also exclude overseas departures (as these people were not enumerated in the Census). To be consistent with the conceptual basis of the arrivals and departures estimates, the adjusted Census count used in calculating population turnover also excludes 0-4 year olds and people who did not state where they lived five years ago.