Level of socio-economic disadvantage

SEIFA (Socio-Economic Indexes For Areas) is a suite of four summary measures that have been created by the Australian Bureau of Statistics from the 2006 Census information. The indexes can be used to explore different aspects of socio-economic conditions by geographic areas. For each index, every geographic area in Australia is given a SEIFA number which shows how disadvantaged that area is compared with other areas in Australia or within a State.

Each index summarises a different aspect of the socio-economic conditions of people living in an area. They each summarise a different set of social and economic information. The indexes provide more general measures of socio-economic status than is given by measuring income or unemployment alone, for example.

Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas, Port Hedland(T)
		Ranking within WA
	Score	Rank	Decile	Percentile
Relative Advantage & Disadvantage	1016	119	9	84
Relative Disadvantage	988	64	5	45
Economic Resources	996	66	5	47
Education & Occupation	954	45	4	32

   Source: SEIFA, ABS

Port Hedland(T) ranked highly across the State when looking at the socio-economic index for advantage and disadvantage, in the top 25 of all local governments (ranking of 1 being the worst and 142 the best). 

That ranking drops substantially when narrowing the measures to look specifically at the economic and social measures of disadvantage, where resources available to people and households within the area are considered. Ranked at 64^th, Port Hedland(T) is positioned some way behind the shires of Ashburton(S) and Roebourne(S).

The index of economic resources looks at a wide range of factors including household income, expenditure (e.g. rents) and wealth.  While incomes in Port Hedland(T) have been rising substantially over the last ten years, increases in the cost of living has meant that the town is ranked 66^th in the State.

While Port Hedland(T) ranks low against the rest of the State for the index of education and occupation, this is comparable with the rest of the Pilbara.  This index takes into consideration the mix of occupations and qualifications required, as well as the level of unemployment.

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Distribution of income

From 1996 through to 2006, all household income brackets decreased, apart from those households earning $2000 or more, which grew from the smallest income bracket in 1996, to the largest in 2006.

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