9 Things you might not know about Australia

The 2021 Census Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) data was released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This data offers a snapshot of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage across Australia and is used by governments of all levels to understand their communities.

Here are nine things you might not know about today’s release:

1. Your town (or area) has a relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage rank. After each Census, the ABS analyses certain information collected, including income, education, employment, occupation, housing, and family structure. This is then used to give each area a relative “rank” to indicate its socio-economic status. SEIFA ranks are available for Local Government Areas (LGAs), suburbs, and other areas.
2. Neighbours can be different. Noosa and Gympie in Queensland are an interesting example of this rank applied in practice. Noosa ranked in the highest 20 per cent of LGAs, while neighbouring Gympie ranked in the lowest 15 per cent. This shows that socio-economic factors can be very different across areas, even if they’re close together.
3. Attractive waterfronts. Nine of the 10 most advantaged LGAs are on waterfronts or close to water, including Sydney Harbour, the Darwin waterfront, and the Swan River in Perth. Woollahra on Sydney harbour’s southern shore ranks first among the most advantaged LGA in Australia.
4. City professionals. 37 per cent of employed people in Hobart, the most advantaged LGA in Tasmania, are working professionals – partly explaining its high ranking. This compares to 20 per cent of the employed population of Tasmania and 24 per cent for Australia.
5. Workin’ hard for the money. Walkerville in South Australia is the state’s second-highest ranking LGA for advantage. It also recorded 20 per cent of the population working more than 45 hours per week, compared with a state average of 17 per cent and an Australian average of 18 per cent.
6. Boroondara (Vic) cashes in its qualifications. As well as being the most advantaged LGA in Victoria, 52 per cent of people living in Boroondara have a university degree. This was much higher than the 29 per cent for Victoria and 26 per cent for Australia.
7. Canberra is unusual. Usually, we talk about SEIFA ranks for LGAs. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is unique because it is only one government area. This means it’s more meaningful to look at ‘Suburbs and Localities’ within Canberra to understand area-level differences in the ACT.
8. The middle is interesting too! Areas around the middle of the rankings have indicators of both advantage and disadvantage. For example, Barkly is ranked 10 out of the 19 LGA’s in the Northern Territory (NT). While it has a higher proportion of people reporting no educational attainment (3 per cent compared with 1 per cent statewide), it has a higher proportion of employed people working in managerial positions (14 per cent compared with 13 per cent for NT) – typically more highly paid occupations.
9. Why does it all matter? Socio-economic status data is commonly used by governments, industry and researchers. Using SEIFA, they can identify areas that need funding or services, business opportunities, the relationship between socio-economic disadvantage and health or educational outcomes, and much more.