Australia Yearbook - 2001

302 Year Book Australia 2001
%
24
8.5 PERSONS LIVING ALONE—1911–1996
21
18
15
12
9
6
1911 1921 1933 1947 1954 1961 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996
Year
Source: Data sourced from Census of Population and Housing. For details see Endnote 2.
Endnotes
1 Australian Social Trends 2000 (4102.0).
2 In addition to unpublished data from the
Census of Population and Housing for 1971,
1976, 1981, 1986, 1991 and 1996, data for the
graphs and text in this article were drawn from a
range of publications relating to Censuses
between 1911 and 1996.
Tenure
Home ownership and renting
Australia has a high rate of home ownership.
Of the seven million households in Australia in
1997–98, 70% were living in their own home, and
26% were renting their dwelling from a State
housing authority or private landlords (table 8.6).
In 1997–98, 39% of households owned their
homes outright. This was a fall from the situation
in 1995–96, when 42% of households owned their
homes outright. In addition, 30% of households
were paying off a mortgage or loan secured
against their dwelling.
Of the two million households renting their
dwellings, 73% were renting from private
landlords, 20% were renting from State housing
authorities and the remaining 8% from other
landlords such as the owner/manager of a caravan
park, an employer (including a government
authority) or a community or church group.
Around 90% of owners lived in separate houses in
1997–98. Of renter households, 51% lived in
separate houses and 29% lived in flats, units or
apartments.
Almost one-third of households who owned their
own home outright were couples with no
children. One parent households accounted for
7% of outright owners, and lone person
households made up 26% (based on table 8.7).
The majority (77%) of couple households with
dependent children only were owners; just 21%
of these households were renting. Of lone parent
families, 52% were house owners, 16% were
renting from a State housing authority and 28%
were renting from private landlords.