In 2016, Wyndham had a larger proportion of the population identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (0.80%) than Greater Melbourne (0.54%). 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Wyndham and Greater Melbourne, 2016

In 2016, Wyndham had the largest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in the Western Region with a total of 1,733 persons. As a proportion of total population, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Wyndham is the second largest in the Western region (0.80%), behind Melton (0.95%). Figure 1 illustrates this.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population – Wyndham and Western Region municipalities, 2016

The table below details the size of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations in 2011 and 2016. It splits up the Census data into people who identify as Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and both. However, because the sample size for Torres Strait Islanders and people who identify as both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander is very small, the data cannot be used to draw inferences from. These three communities are therefore discussed together in this report.

Wyndham’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population increased by 51.4% (588 people) from 2011 to 2016. The non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population increased by 33.9% (51,823 people). The growth in the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Wyndham was 1.5 times faster than the growth in the number of non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Wyndham, 2011 and 2016

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population – Wyndham, 2011 to 2016

Werribee is home to the largest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in Wyndham with 447 people living in the suburb in 2016. Hoppers Crossing, Wyndham Vale, Point Cook, Truganina and Tarneit are also home to sizeable populations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (number) in Wyndham suburbs, 2016

In relation to overall population sizes, the suburbs with the largest proportions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents are Wyndham Vale (1.37%), Werribee (1.11%), Truganina (0.92%), Little River (0.91%) and Hoppers Crossing (0.84%). The pattern in shown in the figure below is highly similar to that in 2011. Laverton North is an exception as no residents who identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lived there in 2016, compared to four in 2011.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (percentage) in Wyndham suburbs, 2016

In 2016 the Wyndham Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community had a larger proportion of people under 15 years and smaller proportions of people over the age of 60 years than the Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Generally, the Wyndham Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community has a younger age profile than the Wyndham non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and the Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community as the figure below shows.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community has a larger proportion of residents under 18 years (41.1%) than the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (28.4%). Around 50% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Wyndham is 21-years-old or younger, while non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 21 or below make up only a third of the total non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.

The proportion of residents aged 65+ is smaller in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community (2.4%) than the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community (7.4%). For context, the percentages for Greater Melbourne are 5% and 13.9% respectively. This is indicative of the life expectancy gap that exists between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people nationally. Life expectancy for Indigenous people in Australia is around 10 years below that of non-Indigenous people.1 The gap between Greater Melbourne and Wyndham 65+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents is likely partly explained by the life expectancy gap, and partly by the generally low proportion of 65+ residents who reside in Wyndham relative to Greater Melbourne.

Age profile of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, Wyndham and Victoria, 2016

In 2016, the median age of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Wyndham was 24.2. This is eight years below the median age of the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (32.3). The median age of both populations is lower than in Greater Melbourne. 

Median age of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, Wyndham and Greater Melbourne, 2016

In the Census, the questions that relate to ancestry have two response options. Because they are not ordered, no primary and secondary ancestry can be derived. Multi-response ancestry totals both ancestry responses for each resident, and this is the count used in the table and figure below.

The majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents in Wyndham report having Australian ancestry (1,081 people). The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents who indicate Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestry is far lower (167). The set of ancestry responses of non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents is more varied, and reflective of the general demographic profile of Wyndham.

Ancestry of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (number) – Wyndham, 2016

The figure below displays the numbers in the table above as a proportion of the total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. This shows the widely diverging patterns between the two cohorts.

Ancestry by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (percentage) – Wyndham, 2016

As the figure below indicates, less than half of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Wyndham reported having a Christian faith (40.1%) in 2016, which is lower than the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (48.2%). The largest group among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Wyndham are those who indicate to have ‘secular beliefs and other spiritual beliefs and no religion’. At 43.9%, this is almost twice the proportion as the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (23.9%).

Religious affiliation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population – Wyndham, 2016

There are eight languages spoken at home by the Wyndham Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population as shown in the table below. By far the largest is English, which 86.7% of the population speaks. The appearance of Auslan (a sign language) in this table is consistent with findings that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population suffers from hearing loss to a greater degree than non-Indigenous people due to disadvantage and poverty, a number of environmental factors, individual genetics, and microbial genomic factors.^2,3

Language spoken at home by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents - Wyndham, 2016

The language profile of non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents in Wyndham is very different. A total of 172 languages are represented, and a much lower proportion speaks English at home (55.2%). In addition, languages from the Indian subcontinent are prevalent in the top 8 languages spoken – a reflection of Wyndham’s overall demographic make-up.

The figure below displays data on the location of Wyndham 2016 residents in 2011 (for all those to whom migration applied, i.e. all those who were alive in 2011 and 2016). Just under two thirds (63.1%) of Wyndham’s 2016 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents lived in the municipality in 2011, which is less than the proportion of Wyndham non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents (66.3%). Around 22.5% 2016 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents had migrated into Wyndham between 2011 and 2016. This compares to 31.2% for the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. The differences lies largely in migration from overseas.

Location of 2016 Wyndham residents in 2011

The data in the figure below displays the location in 2016 of those who were Wyndham residents in 2011. This data does not include people who have moved overseas and who have died between 2011 and 2016. The figure shows that a larger proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents had left Wyndham (21.4%) compared with the movement of non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents (16.3%) between 2011 and 2016.

Location of 2011 Wyndham residents in 2016

In 2016 a larger proportion of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (31.6%) are living as single parent family households than Wyndham’s total population (11.6%). The proportion is also higher than for the Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (27%). As a result, the average household size for Wyndham Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is 2.27, while for the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population this is 2.74. As shown in the table below, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wyndham residents are more likely to live in group households and are less likely to live alone than the overall Wyndham population. The percentages for the Wyndham Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population have remained largely unchanged since 2011.

Household type Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and total population - Wyndham, 2016

Home ownership rates among Wyndham Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents have gone down since 2011, from 48.6% in 2011 to 43.8% in 2016. The percentage of renters has gone up by about the same percentage as ownership has decreased. When it comes to tenure type in 2016 a lower proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents owns their home (43.8%) than all Wyndham residents (63.3%).

A larger proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households are living in public rental dwellings (8.3%) than the total population (2.6%), though it is still lower than the Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population proportion of 15%. Also notably higher is the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households living in private rental dwellings: 44.4% compared with 25.8% of all Wyndham households, and 35.8% of all Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households.

Household tenure, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Population and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population - Wyndham and Victoria, 2016

In terms of educational attainment, Year 12 completion rates differ starkly between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents. In 2016, 31.9% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents over 15 years of age had completed year 12 or equivalent. This is close to half the rate of non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents over 15 (61.3%). In addition, while educational attainment for non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wyndham residents is similar to Greater Melbourne and higher than in Victoria, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wyndham residents experience lower educational attainment Year 12 completion rates than Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents in Greater Melbourne and Victoria.

Year 12 completion rates by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population over 15 years old, 2016

The difference in educational outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is illustrated further in the chart below. While almost a quarter of the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population has a bachelor degree or higher, this is just over 5% among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.

Highest level of educational attainment by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population over 15 years old, Wyndham, 2016

Employment status is very different between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents and residents who do not identify as such. A lower proportion of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population works fulltime and part-time, while a larger proportion are unemployed or not in the labour force.

Under half of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Wyndham is employed (49%) compared with almost two thirds (63.3%) of the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. Unemployment is higher among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in Wyndham, (8.2%) than among the among the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (5.6%).

Employment status by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population over 15 years old, Wyndham, 2016

According to Census 2011 data, Clerical and Administrative Workers (19.1%) and Technicians and Trades Workers (15.8%) were the largest occupation types for employed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Wyndham. Some changes have since taken place as the 2016 data indicated. There are now proportionally more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents in Community and Personal Services, Machinery Operators and Drivers, Professionals, Labourers and Sales Workers. There are proportionally fewer residents in Clerical and Administrative, Technical/Trade and Manager occupations.

Occupations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population – Wyndham, 2011 and 2016