Oh man, we’re on a winner
WOMEN still have the pick of the litter in greater Darwin, as population statistics reveal the city remains Australia’s youngest man-filled metropolis.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows Darwin remains the spriteliest of metropolitan cities in the country, with its median age of 34.3 years a whole three years younger than the Australian average.
Charles Darwin University Northern Institute Professor Andrew Taylor said it was unsurprising greater Darwin also had 109.9 men for every 100 women, as the main job sectors of resources and Defence were maledominated industries.
Darwin remains the only capital city where males outnumber females, with the ratio remaining relatively stable for at least the past two decades.
Prof Taylor said it was “quite typical” for relatively northern and remote areas of the country to skew male, with areas such as greater
Darwin also attracting more male overseas migrants than females due to skilled visa streams that appeal.
Where it gets interesting, he said, is Alice Springs, which has over time shifted from being male dominated to being overthrown by women, largely due to the Central Australian city’s role as a centre for health services, the arts and creative sectors, which are areas that skew female.
“Outside of Darwin there is a female bias, in many parts (also because) we have a high Indigenous population, for example,” Prof Taylor said.
“You’ll see the ratio of females to males is much higher … that’s unfortunately because males tend to be dying sooner in that population than females.”
Darwin resident Sean Brown, 30, said the over-representation of men in the greater metropolitan area had not been a problem so far.
“The standard of men is so incredibly low that even guys like us have a chance,” he said.