Boorowa
Indicator: Population
Results for this indicator are also available for [an error occurred while processing this directive]
What the results tell us for Boorowa
The population of Boorowa continued to fall in number yet grow in age. The 2006 Census reports a population of 2,390 compared to an estimated figure of 2,342 for 2007. Since the 2004 State of the Environment Report the population has fallen from 2,402 or 60 persons (-0.6%).
Compared with New South Wales as a whole Boorowa Council has a higher aged population, a slightly lower Indigenous population and a slight increase in the proportion of persons born overseas which concords with the trend for the State. Along with many other jurisdictions in Australia, Boorowa Council will need to consider the impacts of an ageing population on its economy and infrastructure.
The composition of households has continued the trend noted in the 2004 report with an increased reduction in the number of households comprising couples with children (falling from 31.8% to 26.0%) and a consequent increase in couples without children, one parent families and lone households. Council’s Social plan is committed to addressing these issues.
Population is down in number and up in age
The population in Boorowa Council was 2,390 at the 2006 Census (Table 1). The population estimates for 2003 and 2004 stated in the 2004 State of the Environment Report suggested an upswing in comparison to the 2000 report. However, by using the more accurate statistics that have become available since the 2006 Census the updated figures show that there is still negative growth for the Council. According to the 2006 Census, there was an annual average rate of growth of -0.6% from 2004 to 2007. The rate for the Australian Capital Region for the same period was +0.7%, and +0.8% for New South Wales as a whole.
Compared with all local government areas across the state, this represents a ranking of 145 out of 149 for the fastest growth and 130 out of 152 for the largest growth. Figure 1 illustrates the growth for the years 2004 to 2007, showing the annual estimated residential population at 30 June for each year.
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | Population Change 2004-2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,402 | 2,391 | 2,390 | 2,342 | -60 (-0.6% p.a.) |
See About the data for Australian Bureau of Statistics comments on years 2001-2007; Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Catalogue No. 3218.0 (2008)
Figure 1. Population growth, Boorowa Council, 2004 to 2007
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Catalogue No. 3218.0 (2008)
In addition to the negative population growth in the Council area there is a continuing shift towards an ageing population, but the rate slowing down. As at the 2006 Census the senior age group represented 17.7% of the population as compared with 16.6% in 2001 and 14.1% in 1996. By comparison, in New South Wales “seniors” represented 13.8%, 13.1% and 12.7% respectively. On the other hand, Boorowa Council has not aged as much or as quickly as some other local government areas in the region.
Looking at the median age for Boorowa Council, in 2006 it was 44 years compared with 40 years in 2001 and 37 years in 1996. The median ages for New South Wales as a whole were 37, 35 and 34 years respectively. These trends are illustrated in Table 2.
Through the Council’s Community / Social Plan, Council aims to identify and respond to community needs of the mandatory target groups.
| Age | 1996 | 2001 | 2006 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| <15 years | 549 | 23.1 | 528 | 22.6 | 472 | 20.9 |
| 15–64 years | 1,492 | 62.8 | 1,417 | 60.7 | 1,383 | 61.4 |
| 65+ years | 335 | 14.1 | 388 | 16.6 | 398 | 17.7 |
| Totals | 2,376 | 100 | 2,333 | 100 | 2,253 | 100 |
See About the data for Australian Bureau of Statistics comments on this table; Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Census 2006 Time Series Profile Catalogue No. 2003.0
Ethnicity and diversity
Gender
The population of Boorowa Council was 50.2% males and 49.8% females (2006 Census). This is the opposite of the male/female split for New South Wales (at 49.3% and 50.7%). See Figures 2 and 3 for a comparison of the gender and age distribution for Boorowa and New South Wales respectively.
Figure 2. Age and sex distribution, Boorowa Council, 2006
Source of data: Australian Bureau of Statistics Census 2006 Time Series Profile Catalogue No. 2003.0
Figure 3. Age and sex distribution, New South Wales, 2006
Source of data: Australian Bureau of Statistics Census 2006 Time Series Profile Catalogue No. 2003.0
Origins
In 2006 92.6% of Boorowa Council’s non-Indigenous residents were born in Australia, compared with 94.3% in 2001 (Table 3). Even with a drop of 1.7% over the 5 years this proportion is still 20% higher than for the whole of the state. The 41 people who identified as being of Indigenous origin in the Council in the 2006 Census represents 1.9% of the total Council population – a decrease of 0.7% since 2001. This proportion is 0.3% lower than for New South Wales as a whole. There has been a slight increase in the number of Boorowa’s residents born overseas.
| Origin | 1996 Census | 2001 Census | 2006 Census | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| Indigenous persons | 35 | 1.5 | 28 | 1.2 | 41 | 1.9 |
| Born in Australia | 2,201 | 94.1 | 2,139 | 94.3 | 2,030 | 92.6 |
| Born overseas (a) | 102 | 4.4 | 102 | 4.5 | 122 | 5.5 |
| Total | 2,338 | 100 | 2,269 | 100 | 2,193 | 100 |
See About the data for notes on (a).
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Census 2006 Time Series Profile Catalogue No. 2003.0
Households and family type
In 2006, 66.3% of Boorowa residents lived in one-family households consisting of 26% couples with children, 31.2% couples with no children and 8.2% were one-parent families. Just over 29% of the population consisted of lone person households. (Table 4). The only group with a significant percentage drop was the “Couple family with children” group, having fallen by over 6% since the 1996 Census whereas the percentage of households occupied by “Couple family without children” rose by 3.4%.
It is interesting to compare these figures with those for the state as a whole. The “Couple family with children” group at 26% compared with 31.8% for the New South Wales as at 2006. On the other hand, the total of “one family households” for the Council at 66.3% of households was just a little lower than that for the state (67.9%).
| Household composition | 1996 Census | 2001 Census | 2006 Census | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dwellings | % | Dwellings | % | Dwellings | % | |
| One family household: | ||||||
| Couple family with children | 300 | 32.2 | 294 | 31.8 | 247 | 26.0 |
| Couple family without children | 259 | 27.8 | 271 | 29.4 | 296 | 31.2 |
| One parent family | 76 | 8.1 | 63 | 6.8 | 78 | 8.2 |
| Other family | 9 | 0.9 | 11 | 1.2 | 8 | 0.8 |
| Total | 644 | 69.1 | 639 | 69.2 | 629 | 66.3 |
| Miscellaneous households: | ||||||
| Group household | 11 | 1.2 | 8 | 0.9 | 18 | 1.9 |
| Lone person household | 254 | 27.2 | 255 | 27.6 | 278 | 29.3 |
| Other household (c) | 23 | 2.5 | 21 | 2.3 | 24 | 2.5 |
| Total | 932 | 100 | 923 | 100 | 949 | 100 |
For notes on (a), (b) and (c) see About the data
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Census 2006 Time Series Profile, Catalogue No. 2003.0
Where people are working and what they are earning
The “Agriculture, forestry & fishing” group is the largest for the Boorowa Council area (Table 5) and is significantly larger than that for the state as a whole. Looking at the Census figures from 1996, 2001 and 2006, there was a drop of 5.4% over the ten year period, but was still at an incredible 43.7% in 2006. For New South Wales the percentage for the same period has dropped by less than 1% but in 2006 was only 2.7% of the total for all industries. Ironically the Council’s largest industry group is also the one that has experienced the greatest decline compared to the other industry types in the Council area.
The second most significant group is that of “Health care & social assistance” standing at 9.1% in 2006. This group has grown by a modest 2.5% from 1996 to 2006. Although at 9.1% it is a slightly smaller percentage of industries than for the state as a whole (10.5%), Boorowa’s rate of growth is a little greater than for the state.
The construction sector, having grown a significantly from 1996 to 2001 has remained fairly stable since 2001 but is a little lower than that the 7.3% for New South Wales.
The retail sector in Boorowa Council represented 7.1% of the working population in 2006, having steadily grown from the 4.9% of 1996, but compared with the state it is quite low (11.1% in 2006).
| Industry of employment (a) | 1996 Census | 2001 Census | 2006 Census | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persons | % | Persons | % | Persons | % | |
| Agriculture, forestry & fishing | 454 | 49.1 | 466 | 47.7 | 420 | 43.7 |
| Mining | 3 | 0.3 | 4 | 0.4 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Manufacturing | 23 | 2.5 | 33 | 3.4 | 24 | 2.5 |
| Electricity, gas, water & waste services | 6 | 0.6 | 12 | 1.2 | 8 | 0.8 |
| Construction | 30 | 3.3 | 54 | 5.5 | 51 | 5.3 |
| Wholesale trade | 21 | 2.3 | 23 | 2.4 | 12 | 1.3 |
| Retail trade | 45 | 4.9 | 47 | 4.8 | 68 | 7.1 |
| Accommodation & food services | 31 | 3.3 | 39 | 4.0 | 38 | 4.0 |
| Transport, postal & warehousing | 22 | 2.4 | 26 | 2.7 | 24 | 2.5 |
| Information media & telecommunications | 3 | 0.3 | 3 | 0.3 | 4 | 0.4 |
| Financial & insurance services | 14 | 1.5 | 9 | 0.9 | 12 | 1.2 |
| Rental, hiring & real estate services | 3 | 0.3 | 3 | 0.3 | 9 | 0.9 |
| Professional, scientific & technical services | 11 | 1.2 | 15 | 1.5 | 24 | 2.5 |
| Administrative & support services | 5 | 0.5 | 9 | 0.9 | 11 | 1.2 |
| Public administration & safety | 64 | 6.9 | 40 | 4.1 | 54 | 5.6 |
| Education & training | 64 | 6.9 | 60 | 6.2 | 59 | 6.1 |
| Health care & social assistance | 61 | 6.6 | 74 | 7.6 | 87 | 9.1 |
| Arts & recreation services | 6 | 0.6 | 6 | 0.6 | 8 | 0.8 |
| Other services | 17 | 1.8 | 16 | 1.6 | 19 | 2.0 |
| Inadequately described/Not stated | 41 | 4.4 | 37 | 3.8 | 28 | 2.9 |
| Total | 924 | 100 | 976 | 100 | 960 | 100 |
For notes on (a) see About the data; Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Census 2006 Time Series Profile, Catalogue No. 2003.0
The Median Individual Income for the Boorowa Council residents as at 30 June 2006 was $364 per week compared with $460 for New South Wales, and the Median Household Income was $660 ($1,034 for the state).
About the data
Data for this indicator were sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Data for Table 1— Estimated Residential Population Australian Bureau of Statistics Catalogue No. 3218.0. Years 2004-2006 are preliminary rebased figures, whereas 2007 figures are preliminary. The figure for 2004 was only preliminary at the time of writing the 2004 State of the Environment Report; therefore it has now been revised. As explained in the Extract from Explanatory Notes, Australian Bureau of Statistics—Catalogue No. 3218.0 (2008), ‘To meet the conflicting demands for accuracy and timeliness there are several versions of sub-state/territory population estimates. Preliminary estimates are normally available nine months after the reference date (i.e. March), revised estimates twelve months later and rebased and final estimates after the following census.' Estimated population is preliminary rebased for 2002 to 2006, based on results of the 2006 Census of Population and Housing, and preliminary for 2007. At the time of writing, final 2006 Census-based estimates for 2002 to 2006, together with the first revision of 2007 were not yet available.
Data for Table 2 – Selected Person Characteristics: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Time Series Profile (T01), Catalogue No. 2003.0, Commonwealth of Australia, 2006.
Data for Table 3 – Selected Person Characteristics: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Time Series Profile (T01), Catalogue No. 2003.0, Commonwealth of Australia, 2006, (a) Includes 'Australian External Territories', 'Inadequately described', 'At sea' and 'Not elsewhere classified'.
Data for Table 4 —Dwelling Structure by Household Composition and Family Composition: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Time Series Profile (T14), Catalogue No. 2003.0, Commonwealth of Australia, 2006 (a) The 'Household Composition' variable replaced 'Household Type', which was used in 1996 and 2001; (b) The 'Family Composition' variable replaced 'Family Type', which was used in 1996 and 2001; (c) Comprises 'Visitors only' and 'Other not classifiable' households.
Data for Table 5 — Industry types in Boorowa Council: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Time Series Profile (T25), Catalogue No. 2003.0, Commonwealth of Australia, 2006. (a) Industry of employment was coded to the 2006 Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) edition. This has replaced the 1993 ANZSIC edition.
Population density is calculated by dividing the estimated residential population at 2004 into the size of the whole council area minus conservation lands and state forests because few, if any, people live in those areas of land use.
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2007) Regional Population Growth, Australia, 1996 to 2006, Catalogue No. 3218.0 — ‘Estimated Residential Population—30 June ', Commonwealth of Australia, http://www.abs.gov.au/
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008) Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2006-07, Catalogue No. 3218.0 — ‘Population Estimates by Local Government Area, 2001 to 2007 — 30 June', Commonwealth of Australia, http://www.abs.gov.au/
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006) Time Series Profile, Catalogue No. 2003.0, Commonwealth of Australia, http://www.abs.gov.au/
Boorowa Council Community / Social Plan 2005-2010, http://www.boorowa.nsw.gov.au/files/1959/File/1November2007SocialPlan.pdf
