Urban Centre · Area profile
Sunshine Acres
12 km²
A car-dependent rural setting defines Sunshine Acres, where almost every home is a large, separate house. The population has grown by 62% since 2011, reaching 1,009 people. It is a family-oriented community with a higher-than-average number of children and a population that is noticeably older than the national figure. Most residents are born in Australia, contributing to a community that is less linguistically and culturally diverse than the state average.
Explore Sunshine Acres by topic
The area has a significant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population at 7.3%, which is well above the national figure. While the typical resident is 44, there are more children under 15 than in most areas, though the proportion of seniors has fallen sharply since 2011.
Most residents were born in Australia (83.8%), and the proportion of people born overseas has fallen to 11.8%, which is far below the Queensland and national figures. English and Australian are the most common ancestries.
English is the primary language for 92.3% of the community. Only 3.3% of people use another language at home, a figure far below the national average, and very few people speak little or no English.
About 43.5% of residents have no religion, a figure that rose 17 points since 2011. This is well above the national average, while 49.6% of the population identify as Christian.
Education levels have risen since 2011, with 44.3% of residents completing Year 12 and 13.8% holding a bachelor degree or higher. Both figures remain far below the state and national averages.
Household incomes are much higher than in most similar areas, with the typical household earning $1,912 a week. This is a little above the national figure, and the number of households earning over $3,000 a week has risen sharply since 2011.
Health needs are high here, with 33.2% of people having a long-term health condition. This is well above the national average, and 8.8% of residents need help with daily activities, which is much higher than in most areas.
A high proportion of residents provide unpaid care, including 27.4% caring for children and 16.1% providing other unpaid care. However, only 9.9% of people volunteer, which is well below the national figure.
Homes are larger than usual, with 3.1 people per household. This is a little above the national average, which helps explain why very few people live alone compared to the rest of the state.
The area consists almost entirely of separate houses (99.0%), and 90.3% of these have three or more bedrooms. Renting is very rare at 4.5%, far below the national figure, while many homes are owned outright.
The community is heavily reliant on cars, with 40.5% of homes having two vehicles and only 0.6% of people using public transport to commute. Only 1.3% of homes have no motor vehicle.
About 34.2% of residents moved here in the last five years, though this is well below the national average. There have been no recent arrivals from overseas since 2011.
More adults are working or looking for work here than in most similar areas, and the unemployment rate of 4.0% is lower than the national figure. Health care, construction, and retail are the main industries.
The area is entirely car-dependent, with a walkability score of 0.0. There are no schools, parks, shops, or health services within a 15-minute walk for any resident.