People — demographics

People	Australia	%	1996	%
Total	18,769,249	--	17,752,829	--
Male	9,270,466	49.4	8,783,426	49.5
Female	9,498,783	50.6	8,969,403	50.5
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people	410,003	2.2	352,970	2.0

In the 2001 Census (held on 7th August 2001), there were 18,769,249 million people in Australia. The population has increased by 5.7%, or just over 1 million people since the 1996 Census. As in 1996, female slightly outnumbered male in the population.

2.2% of the population identified themselves as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the 2001 Census which is an increase of 16.2% or 57,033 people.

Age	Australia	%	1996	%
People
0-4 years	1,243,969	6.6	1,264,906	7.1
5-14 years	2,668,506	14.2	2,573,026	14.5
15-24 years	2,566,346	13.7	2,572,145	14.5
25-54 years	8,159,808	43.5	7,708,042	43.4
55-64 years	1,759,742	9.4	1,483,815	8.4
65 years and over	2,370,878	12.6	2,150,895	12.1

Australia's population continued to age as a result of low fertility and increased life expectancy. The proportion of people aged 65 years and over increased to 12.6% (2,370,878 people) in 2001 from 12.1% in 1996. The proportion of people aged 0-14 years decreased to 20.8% (3,912,475 people) in 2001 from 21.6% in 1996.

Selected characteristics	Australia	%	1996	%
Australian citizenship	16,559,774	88.2	15,886,961	89.5
People born overseas	4,105,444	21.9	3,907,993	22.0
Overseas visitors (excluded from people counts)	203,101	1.1	139,594	0.8

672,813 more Australian citizens were counted in the 2001 Census than in 1996. However, the proportion of the population who were Australian citizens decreased from 89.5% in 1996 to 88.2% in 2001.

The 1996 Census counted 3,907,993 people in Australia whose place of birth was overseas. In the 2001 Census this increased by 197,451 people to 4,105,444. However, the proportion of the population who were born overseas decreased from 22.0% in 1996 to 21.9% in 2001.

The number of people in Australia classified as overseas visitors in the Census increased by 45.5% between 1996 and 2001. In part the increase was due to a change in the definition of 'Overseas visitor'. In the 1996 Census, overseas visitors were those people who stated they would be in Australia for less than 6 months. In the 2001 Census, overseas visitors were defined as those visitors who stated they would be in Australia for less than 12 months.

Registered marital status	Australia	%	1996	%
People aged 15 years and over
Married	7,635,947	51.4	7,415,104	53.3
Separated or divorced	1,609,314	10.8	1,363,043	9.8
Widowed	919,904	6.2	892,199	6.4
Never married	4,691,609	31.6	4,244,551	30.5

In the 2001 Census, 51.4% of the Australian population stated they were married. This is a lower proportion than in the 1996 Census when 53.3% of the population stated they were married. The proportion of the population who stated they were separated or divorced increased from 9.8% in 1996 to 10.8% in the 2001 Census.

People — cultural & language diversity

Country of birth	Australia	%	1996	%
Australia	13,629,481	72.6	13,227,776	74.5
Other top responses

Religious affiliation, top responses	Australia	%	1996	%

Language, top responses (other than English)	Australia	%	1996	%

People — employment

Employment	Australia	%	1996	%
People aged 15 years and over
Worked full-time	5,360,693	59.8	5,180,227	61.6
Worked part-time	2,689,709	30.0	2,286,662	27.2
Hours worked not stated	248,204	2.8	169,430	2.0
Unemployed	660,709	7.4	771,970	9.2
Not in the labour force	5,265,426	--	5,174,181	--
Total in labour force (includes employed and unemployed people)	8,959,315	--	8,408,289	--
View the labour force fact sheet

The proportion of the Australian labour force which was employed at the time of the 2001 Census was 92.6%, an increase from 90.8% in the 1996 Census.

In 2001, there was a fall in the proportion of full-time workers who represented 59.8% of the labour force, down from 61.6% in 1996. The proportion of the labour force in part-time employment increased from 27.2% in 1996 to 30.0% in 2001.

The proportion of the labour force which was unemployed decreased from 9.2% in 1996 to 7.4% in 2001.

Occupation	Australia	%	1996	%
Employed people aged 15 years and over

Industry of employment, top responses	Australia	%	1996	%
Employed people aged 15 years and over

Families — family type

Family type	Australia	%	1996	%
Couple family without children	1,764,167	35.7	1,589,882	34.1
Couple family with children	2,321,165	47.0	2,308,942	49.6
One parent family	762,632	15.4	672,868	14.5
Other family	88,864	1.8	84,227	1.8
Total families	4,936,828	--	4,655,919	--

The 2001 Census counted nearly 5 million families in Australia, an increase of 6.0% since 1996. In 2001, almost half (47.0%) of all families were couples with children, down from 49.6% in 1996. There were corresponding increases in the proportion of couple families without children (35.7%), up from 34.1% in 1996 and one parent families (15.4%), up from 14.5% in 1996.

Dwellings — dwelling structure

Dwellings include visitor only and other not-classifiable households unless otherwise stated

Dwelling type	Australia	%	1996	%
Occupied private dwellings	7,072,202	90.8	6,496,072	90.5
All private dwellings (including unoccupied)	7,790,079	--	7,175,237	--

7,790,079 dwellings were counted in Australia in the 2001 Census, an increase of 8.6% since 1996.

Dwelling structure	Australia	%	1996	%
Occupied private dwellings
Separate house	5,327,309	75.3	4,911,909	75.6
Semi-detached, row or terrace house, townhouse etc	632,176	8.9	517,181	8.0
Flat, unit or apartment	923,139	13.1	816,704	12.6
Other dwelling	134,274	1.9	134,024	2.1
Dwelling type not stated	55,304	0.8	116,254	1.8

There was an increase of 22.2% (114,995 dwellings) in the number of Semi-detached, row or terrace house, townhouse etc. The category Flat, unit or apartment increased by 13.0% (106,435 dwellings) and the number of separate houses increased by 8.5% (415,400 dwellings).

Tenure	Australia	%	1996	%
Occupied private dwellings
Owned outright	2,810,917	39.7	2,657,971	40.9
Being purchased (includes being purchased under rent/buy scheme)	1,872,132	26.5	1,656,062	25.5
Rented (includes rent-free)	1,858,324	26.3	1,773,508	27.3
Other tenure type	196,026	2.8	160,273	2.5
Tenure type not stated	334,803	4.7	248,258	3.8

Dwellings which were fully owned or being purchased accounted for 66.2% of the 7,072,202 occupied private dwellings in Australia at the 2001 Census. Occupied private dwellings being rented accounted for 26.3% of occupied private dwellings.

Landlord type	Australia	%	1996	%
Occupied private dwellings being rented (including rent-free accommodation)
Real estate agent	813,633	43.8	744,539	42.0
State or Territory housing authority	317,171	17.1	329,249	18.6
Other landlord type	705,122	37.9	686,752	38.7
Landlord type not stated	22,398	1.2	12,968	0.7

The number of occupied private dwellings in Australia being rented increased by 4.8% (84,816 dwellings) between the 1996 Census and the 2001 Census. In this period the proportion of dwellings rented from real estate agents increased from 42.0% to 43.8%. There were decreases in the proportions rented by the state or territory housing authorities and for the category other landlord type.

Dwellings — household type

Household type	Australia	%	1996	%
Excludes visitor only and other not classifiable households
Family households	4,866,031	68.8	4,582,999	70.6
Single (or lone) person households	1,616,213	22.9	1,432,816	22.1
Group households	262,551	3.7	266,002	4.1

Of the 7,072,202 households counted in Australia in 2001, 68.8% (4,866,031 households) were family households, a decrease from 70.6% in 1996. The proportion of lone person households increased to 22.9% (1,616,213 households), up from 22.1% in 1996. The proportion of group households fell to 3.7% (262,551 households) in 2001, down from 4.1% in 1996.