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AustraliaCommunity profile

Regional Australia

Dwelling type

In Regional Australia, 16.9% of the dwellings were medium or high density, compared to 21% in Western Australia.

Dwelling Type is an important determinant of Regional Australia's residential role and function. A greater concentration of higher density dwellings is likely to attract more young adults and smaller households, often renting. Larger, detached or separate dwellings are more likely to attract families and prospective families. The residential built form often reflects market opportunities or planning policy, such as building denser forms of housing around public transport nodes or employment centres.

Dwelling Type statistics should be viewed in conjunction with Household Size, Household Types, Housing Tenure and Age Structure for a more complete picture of the housing market in Regional Australia.

If you're looking at this data to prepare a housing strategy, learn more here.

Q:

Derived from the Census:

'Dwelling Structure is derived from the ABS address register supplemented with information from Census Field Officers.'

Dwelling structure
Regional Australia - Dwellings (Enumerated)20212001Change
Dwelling typeNumber%Western Australia %Number%Western Australia %2001 to 2021
Separate house3,107,81680.377.12,343,95880.477.6+763,858
Medium density519,38913.415.9367,40212.616.1+151,987
High density134,8423.54.867,5952.33.1+67,247
Caravans, cabin, houseboat71,4411.81.579,7532.71.8-8,312
Other15,8260.40.427,9031.00.6-12,077
Not stated22,1930.60.427,1440.90.8-4,951
Total Private Dwellings3,871,507100.0100.02,913,755100.0100.0+957,752
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2001 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information
Dwelling type
Regional Australia20212001Change
Dwelling typeNumber%Western Australia %Number%Western Australia %2001 to 2021
Occupied private dwellings3,394,77087.489.52,542,33186.989.8+852,439
Unoccupied private dwellings476,78112.310.3371,55512.710.0+105,226
Non private dwellings13,4900.30.211,7870.40.3+1,703
Total dwellings3,885,041100.0100.02,925,673100.0100.0+959,368
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2001 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information

Dominant groups

In 2021, there were 3,107,816 separate houses in the area, 519,389 medium density dwellings, and 134,842 high density dwellings. In addition, there were 71,441 caravans/cabins/houseboats in the area.

Analysis of the types of dwellings in Regional Australia in 2021 shows that 80.3% of all dwellings were separate houses; 13.4% were medium density dwellings, and 3.5% were in high density dwellings, compared with 77.1%, 15.9%, and 4.8% in the Western Australia respectively.

In 2021, a total of 87.4% of the dwellings in Regional Australia were occupied on Census night, compared to 89.5% in Western Australia. The proportion of unoccupied dwellings was 12.3%, which is larger compared to that found in Western Australia (10.3%).

Emerging groups

The total number of dwellings in Regional Australia increased by 959,368 between 2001 and 2021.

The largest changes in the type of dwellings found in Regional Australia between 2001 and 2021 were:

  • Separate house (+763,858 dwellings)
  • Medium density (+151,987 dwellings)
  • High density (+67,247 dwellings)
  • Other (-12,077 dwellings)

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