17 April 2008
DAFF08/044B

Rural Western Australia has the nation’s greatest gender imbalance, with men outnumbering women by two-to-one in some regions, according to a new snapshot of country Australia.

The trend is revealed in the 2008 Country Matters: Social Atlas of Rural and Regional Australia, released today by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Tony Burke.

“In rural Western Australia, where there are 38.7 per cent more young men aged 15-24 than young women,” Mr Burke said.

“For example, in Greenough, south of Geraldton, young men outnumber young women two-to-one.

“The Atlas shows that young women in the state are leaving country areas to live in urban centres and often don’t return.

“However, this could change in a few years, with regional centres in Western Australia experiencing the strongest population growth (14.7 per cent), compared with the national average
population growth of all regional centres (5.7 per cent).”

The Atlas primarily draws on 2006, 2001 and 1996 Population Census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics to describe the social and economic life of the 7.5 million Australians living outside of capital cities.

The Atlas is prepared by the Bureau of Rural Sciences, within the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

To use the Atlas online visit www.brs.gov.au/socialatlas

(The Atlas defines regional centres as 1000 to 100 000 people, small towns as 200 to 1000 people, and rural areas as fewer than 200 people.)