Innisfail - Johnstone vs Yarrabah

Innisfail - Johnstone and Yarrabah are two Queensland areas with very different profiles. Yarrabah has a much higher proportion of people speaking a First Nations language at 79.7%, compared to 6.9% in Innisfail - Johnstone. The two areas also differ in their local infrastructure; Innisfail - Johnstone is mostly car-dependent but has a higher walkability score than Yarrabah, which is described as car-dependent. Innisfail - Johnstone also has a higher share of homes within a 15-minute walk of parks (59.3% compared to 14.5%) and groceries (22.3% compared to 0.0%).

Both areas have almost the same number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with populations of 2,355 and 2,402. This shared demographic profile extends to the typical age of First Nations residents, which is 24 in both places, and similar household incomes. However, outcomes vary between them. First Nations unemployment is far higher in Yarrabah at 38.4%, while it is 18.9% in Innisfail - Johnstone. This is consistent with a higher rate of Year 12 completion in Innisfail - Johnstone (40.8%) than in Yarrabah (27.7%).