16.2% ▲ +25.1%
Higher than 82% of remoteness area areas.
- 2011: 12.9%
- 2016: 21.4%
- 2021: 16.2%
Unemployed people as a share of the labour force (aged 15+).
Very Remote Australia · Remoteness Area
Jobs & Industry in Very Remote Australia
Work across the area — who is in the labour force, in which industries and jobs.
A high unemployment rate of 16.2% marks the challenging job market in Very Remote Australia. While the area has a very high proportion of full-time workers, far fewer adults are actually working or looking for work compared to the rest of the country.
Labour force
Employment, participation and unemployment.
The number of adults working or looking for work is far below the national figure at 39.9%, a drop of 10 points since 2011. Those who do have jobs are more likely to be full-time (67.0%) than Australians in general, though the unemployment rate is much higher than most areas.
39.9% ▼ -20.6%
Lower than 81% of remoteness area areas.
- 2011: 50.2%
- 2016: 43.4%
- 2021: 39.9%
Share of people aged 15+ who are in the labour force.
67.0% ▲ +6.5%
Higher than 81% of remoteness area areas.
- 2011: 62.9%
- 2016: 67.5%
- 2021: 67.0%
Share of employed people who worked full-time.
Industries
The industries that employ local workers.
Public service and care roles dominate the local economy, with education and training (15.4%), public administration and safety (15.3%), and health care (14.6%) being the top industries. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing follow at 9.5%.
Occupations
The kinds of jobs people do.
Professionals make up the largest group of workers at 22%, followed by community and personal service workers at 19.6%. Labourers, managers, and technicians or trades people also make up significant portions of the workforce.
Sources
- Census of Population and Housing — Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 (CC BY 4.0).
More for Very Remote Australia
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Jobs & Industry in Very Remote Australia [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/ra/RA74/very-remote-australia/topic/employment