ENDORSEMENT OF NOOSA LOCAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLAN 2026 · ATTACHMENT 1 - 2026 Local Disaster Management Plan

Section 3.3
3.3    Human-Social
3.3.1 Population
The 2021 Census determined the resident population of the Noosa Council LGA is 56,298 with a density of
65.13 people per square metre. Population growth assumptions indicate the population could grow to 64,999
people by 2041.
Some 60% of the Shire’s population lives in the coastal urban communities of the south-eastern corner of the
Shire, between Peregian Beach and Tewantin. The largest hinterland towns are Cooroy, Pomona and Cooran
which are located along the railway corridor.
Other centres of population are Boreen Point, Federal and Kin Kin and smaller clusters of rural residential
settlement also occur throughout the hinterland.
At the 2021 census, 48.6 of the LGA resident population identified as male and 51.4% as female.
The median age in the region was 50 years old, compared with 37.8 years old as the median age for
Queensland. Children aged 0-14 years made up 14.8% of the population, people aged 65 years and over made
up 25% of the population and the remaining 60.2% of the population were aged between 15 and 64 years old.
The largest represented age group was those between 60 and 64 years old. Like many other coastal
communities in Queensland, the Noosa community has an ageing population. As at December 2021, there
were 7,825 recipients of the age pension in the Noosa LGA. The two communities with higher percentages of
population over the age of 65 are Noosaville (35.4%) and Noosa Heads (30.5%). Therefore, these areas may
need extra assistance in evacuating and recovering.



3.3.2 Cultural Diversity
The Traditional Owners and original custodians of the lands of the Noosa Shire Council area, are the Kabi Kabi
/ Gubbi Gubbi people. At the 2016 Census, 1.7% of the population of the Noosa Shire identified as being of
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.
At the 2021 Census, 71.2% of people indicated they were born in Australia. The most common other countries
of birth were England 7.5%, New Zealand 4%, South Africa 1.1%, Germany 0.9% and the USA 0.8%.
At the 2021 Census, 88.5% of households spoke only English at home. There were 7.9% of households where
a non-English language is used. The top five non-English languages spoken at home for the total population of
Noosa LGA were German (0.7%), French (0.6%), Portuguese (0.6%), Spanish (0.5%) and Italian (0.4%).



3.3.3 Families, Households & Dwellings
Data obtained from the 2021 Census indicates there are 16,091 families in Noosa. Of these, 51.4% are couple
families with no children, 34.2% are couple families with children, 13.6% identified as one parent families and
0.7% as other families.
At the 2016 Census, there were 21,847 occupied private dwellings in the Noosa Council area. Of these, 79.5%
were separate, detached houses, 12% were semi-detached row, terrace or town houses, 7.8% were flats, units
or apartments and 0.3% were other dwellings such as caravans, tents and sheds.
The Noosa Council area had a comparatively high proportion of home ownership with 43.7% of occupied
private dwellings owned outright, compared with 29.1% in Queensland and 31% in Australia. A further 31.1% of
Noosa Council households were purchasing their house with a mortgage. The median monthly mortgage
repayment in the region was $1,900, higher than the Queensland median monthly repayment of $1,733.
At the 2021 Census, 20.9% of Noosa Council area households were renting, with a median weekly rent of $460.
This is significantly higher than the $305 weekly median rent for Queensland. The communities that have the



Noosa Council 2025 | Local Disaster Management Plan                               Page 31 of 73