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LEARN MORE ABOUT .id36% of Cairns Regional Council's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population attend an educational institution.
The share of Cairns Regional Council’s first nations population attending educational institutions reflects the age structure of the population, which influences the number of children attending school. Other influences include the proportion of children finishing school, leading to tertiary education, as well as the availability of tertiary education nearby.
First Nations populations are usually younger than the total population. For this reason, first nations populations often have large proportions attending primary or secondary schools. For remote areas, the availability of tertiary education and in some cases secondary education may also be a factor.
This data is often combined with Age Structure to look at the proportions of each age group attending the type of education relevant for that age group. Also look at Highest Level of Schooling completed and Highest Education Attainment.
Q:
Derived from the Census question:
'What type of educational institution is the person attending?'
| Education institution attending | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - Cairns Regional Council | 2021 | 2006 | Change | ||||
| Type of institution | Number | % | Regional QLD % | Number | % | Regional QLD % | 2006 to 2021 |
| Pre-school | 365 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 262 | 2.6 | -- | +103 |
| Primary school | 2,350 | 14.5 | 15.3 | 1,596 | 16.1 | -- | +754 |
| Secondary school | 1,996 | 12.3 | 11.0 | 923 | 9.3 | -- | +1,073 |
| TAFE/Vocational | 422 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 188 | 1.9 | -- | +234 |
| University | 397 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 124 | 1.3 | -- | +273 |
| Other | 230 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 51 | 0.5 | -- | +179 |
| Not attending | 9,869 | 61.1 | 62.0 | 5,661 | 57.1 | -- | +4,208 |
| Not stated | 535 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 1,115 | 11.2 | -- | -580 |
| Total people | 16,164 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 9,920 | 100.0 | -- | +6,244 |
Dominant groups
Analysis of the share of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population attending educational institutions in Cairns Regional Council in 2021 compared to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in Regional QLD shows that there was a lower proportion attending primary school, a higher proportion attending secondary school, and a higher proportion engaged in tertiary level education.
Overall, 14.5% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population were attending primary school, 12.3% of the population were attending secondary institutions, and 5.1% were learning at a tertiary level, compared with 15.3%, 11.0% and 4.0% respectively for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in Regional QLD.
The major difference between the share of the population attending learning institutions of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Cairns and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in Regional QLD was:
- A larger percentage of people attending other educational institutions (12.3% compared to 11.0%)
Emerging groups
From 2006 to 2021, Cairns Regional Council's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population increased by 6,244 people (+62.9%). This represents an average annual change of 3.31% per year over the period.
The largest changes in the number of people attending education institutions in Cairns, between 2006 and 2021 were in those who nominated:
- Secondary school (+1,073 people)
- Primary school (+754 people)
- University (+273 people)
- TAFE/Vocational (+234 people)
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