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LEARN MORE ABOUT .id16% of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households contain only one person, compared with 16% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households in Regional Australia.
The size of households in general follows the life-cycle of families. Households are usually small at the stage of relationship formation (early marriage), and then increase in size with the advent of children. They later reduce in size again as these children reach adulthood and leave home.
Household size can also be influenced by a lack (or abundance) of affordable housing. First Nations persons often have a tradition of living with extended family members which significantly affects household size, and households can include multiple families.
Please note that this table counts First Nations households (households containing at least one Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander usual resident) by the number of persons resident. The number of persons resident can include both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as well as other people - it represents the total number of people in the household.
For greater insight, First Nations household size data should be viewed in conjunction with Household Type, Age Structure and Household Income .
Q:
Derived from the three Census questions:
'Name of each person including visitors who spent the night of Tuesday, 10 August 2021 in this dwelling', and 'Where does the person usually live?', and 'Name of each person who usually lives in this dwelling but was away on Tuesday, 10 August 2021?'
| Household size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households - Australia | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Number of persons usually resident | Number | % | Regional Australia % | Number | % | Regional Australia % | 2016 to 2021 |
| 1 person | 54,734 | 15.5 | 15.6 | 38,692 | 14.7 | 15.2 | +16,042 |
| 2 person | 99,315 | 28.2 | 27.9 | 71,546 | 27.2 | 26.8 | +27,769 |
| 3 person | 68,662 | 19.5 | 18.9 | 51,925 | 19.7 | 19.1 | +16,737 |
| 4 person | 60,987 | 17.3 | 17.0 | 46,560 | 17.7 | 17.1 | +14,427 |
| 5 person | 36,088 | 10.3 | 10.5 | 27,939 | 10.6 | 10.7 | +8,149 |
| 6 or more persons | 32,262 | 9.2 | 10.1 | 26,379 | 10.0 | 11.0 | +5,883 |
| Total households | 352,048 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 263,041 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +89,007 |
Dominant groups
Analysis of the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons usually resident in a household in Australia compared with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households in Regional Australia shows that there were a similar proportion of lone person households, and a lower proportion of larger households (those with 4 persons or more). Overall there were 16%% of lone person households, and 36.7% of larger households, compared with 16% and 37.6% respectively for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households in Regional Australia.
There were no major differences in household size between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households of Australia and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households of Regional Australia in 2021.
Emerging groups
The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households in Australia increased by 89,007 between 2016 and 2021.
The largest changes in the number of persons usually resident in a household in Australia between 2016 and 2021 were:
- 2 person households (+27,769 households)
- 3 person households (+16,737 households)
- 1 person households (+16,042 households)
- 4 person households (+14,427 households)
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