Home Care In Queensland, AB

Queenslanders have battled a housing crisis and a pandemic in recent years with the latest census data revealing how the Sunshine State has evolved.

The latest release of 2021 Census data reveals some of the key changes, from how many people now own their own home to who they are living with.

Changes in who owns what we live in

While the total number of people who own a home has increased, overall the percentage of home owners in the state has decreased.

In 1996, about 460,000 Queensland homes were owned outright while in 2021 that rose to about 543,000.

"The proportion of dwellings that are owned outright was 33.7 per cent only five years ago, and that's dropped down to 29.1 per cent in 2021," 2021 Census dissemination director Caroline Deans said.

"The really big growth has been in the number of dwellings that are owned with a mortgage — more than doubling."

Since the 2016 Census, homes owned with a mortgage increased from 33.7 per cent to 34.4 per cent.

"And that's due to all the extra dwelling stock that has come on in the last five years," she said.

Demographer Elin Charles-Edwards, from the University of Queensland, said the ongoing shift in home ownership was "one of the more concerning results from the census".

"That's really tied to housing affordability," she said.

"The Australian dream still really is to own your own home."

Dr Charles-Edwards said younger people were also acquiring mortgages later and longer.

"It is taking them longer to pay it off and that's reflected in the decline in the number of people buying houses outright," she said.

The driving factors of the decline for younger people were changes in lifestyles.

She said younger people often partner later in life, and delay gaining their first job due to university studies.

But the counter argument was that some people enjoyed the flexibility of renting over home ownership, Dr Charles-Edwards said.

"Particularly in younger ages and in certain populations, [they] might want to rent instead of buying," she said.

"But I think the real underlying cause here is a decline in affordability," she said.

Changes in what we live in

Ms Deans said there had been a rise in the number of residents living in semi-detached or townhouses with separate houses the most popular option for both Brisbane residents and Queenslanders overall.

"We can see that there's been a big growth in the number of dwellings over the last 20 years that are in four-or-more-storey blocks," she said.

The 2021 Census was the first time data was collected on nine-or-more-storey blocks with around 6,500 flats and apartments in nine-and-a-half-storey buildings recorded on the Gold Coast.

ABS expert Duncan Young said the growth of apartments outstripped the growth of houses in most city areas.

Dr Charles-Edwards said the availability and affordability of houses had contributed to the shift in housing types.

"There's been a big push to build medium and high-density housing so that's now become a really good option for people," she said.

"If you look at somewhere like in Brisbane, the suburb of West End, lots of people want all that amenity for being so close to the heart of the city.

"And the only real affordable option there is apartment living."

Where are Queenslanders living?

Mr Young said the population declined in Far North Queensland, Charters Towers, and outback areas by up to 10 per cent.

"There are no areas of decline in either population or dwellings across the south-east corner," he said.

But some areas saw slow population growth, such as Centenary (1.5 per cent), Sunnybank (0.8 per cent), Springwood and Kingston (2.3 per cent).

"Very different to some of our really high growth areas, so Brisbane inner — a 29 per cent growth," he said.

During that time inner Brisbane also saw 40 per cent increase in dwellings.

Dr Charles-Edwards said a natural increase in births and deaths had been steady in the state, but COVID-19 had a big impact on net migration.

Data leading up the 2021 Census, showed areas in south-east Queensland had declined in population, she said.

"Brisbane, local government area, declined for the first time probably since the First World War, so a big shock to the system," Dr Charles-Edwards said.

She said the decline was driven by the closures of international borders.

"We stopped having international migrants coming in on the scale that they had previously."

Along the south-east, the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast maintained their growth but at a lesser rate during the pandemic.

By census night, the population had started to increase again but COVID-19 left a lasting imprint on the state's population, she said.

"It is going to take a long time to sort of get back to that pre-pandemic growth and it still have an impact 20 years out," Dr Charles-Edwards said.

Some of the regional declines were caused by out migration of young people, and an increase of mortality of an ageing population.

"But usually for those sort of regional areas, we'll see the decline, or the growth driven by migration patterns," she said.

Family dynamics

Dr Charles-Edwards said experts had anticipated the single household population would rise alongside the state's ageing population with 24.7 per cent of Queenslanders living alone, a 1.2 per cent increase from 2016.

"As our population overall gets older, you have more people who are alone due to divorce or widowhood," she said.

But despite more Queenslanders living alone, 71 per cent of the state's population still lived in a family household setting.

"As we say at the ABS, you can't choose your family, but you can count them," ABS expert Mr Young said.

He said compared to the rest of the country, Queenslanders were about 1 per cent less likely to be in a single household and 0.5 per cent more likely to be living in a family setting.

A rainbow state

In Queensland there are 14,888 same-sex couples married or in a de-facto relationship, an increase of 77 per cent since the 2016 Census.

"A huge increase, much higher than the increase in population," Mr Young said.

The rise in Queensland's same-sex couples is also higher than the national average.

"The number of same-sex couples counted increased by about 68 per cent across the whole of Australia so it is increasing faster in Queensland," he said.

Dr Charles-Edwards said the rise could be the flow-on effect of the Marriage Equality Act passing in 2017.

"People have been able to marry their long-term partners," she said.

"And this is coming through now and reflected in the official statistics."

More than 80 per cent of disposable vapes sold in Gold Coast stores illegally contain nicotine, a Queensland parliamentary inquiry into reducing rates of e-cigarette use has heard.

The inquiry was announced in March amid reports primary school-aged children were becoming addicted to vaping products.

Principal of AB Paterson College on the Gold Coast Joanne Sheehy told the inquiry e-cigarettes had first been noticed on school grounds at the beginning of 2021.

"It started with the 14, 15, 16-year-old kids," Ms Sheehy said.

"And I can say that none of the children that were vaping at that point were smokers beforehand."

She said the school had incorporated education programs about vaping into its classes, as a response to a visible increase in vaping among students.

The acting director of public and environmental health at the Gold Coast Public Health Unit (GCPHU), Anne Cowdry, told Thursday's public hearing in Southport the availability of disposable vapes, many of which contain nicotine, had "exploded" since 2021.

Ms Cowdry said the GCPHU had seized nearly 11,000 disposable vapes since 2019 in response to complaints from the community.

She said laboratory tests on 1,518 of those vapes showed 83 per cent illegally contained nicotine.

"The amount of nicotine in each product varies but most of the flavours are strawberry, grape and other things that appeal to children," Ms Cowdry said.

"The average was about 35,000 to 45,000 milligrams of nicotine per kilogram.

"The highest we found was 190,000 milligrams per kilogram."

By comparison, a typical packaged cigarette weighs about one gram and, on average, contains between eight and 20 milligrams of nicotine.

'Disposable vapes designed to addict'

Mount Tamborine vape vendor Leah Tankard told the hearing "cheap and nasty disposable vapes" were the "scourge of the industry" and should be banned.

"We're finding these are often sold in tobacconists, corner stores, newsagents and on social media channels," Ms Tankard said.

She said re-usable vapes that required users to purchase liquid separately and refill were "too much hassle for a child".

"The disposable vapes are a one-step system so they [children] can just walk into a store and access that nicotine problem right there.

"We don't want them in the hands of children, they're an adult product.

"The high amount of nicotine in there [disposable vapes] is designed to get children addicted."

Ms Tankard said Australia's attitude towards vaping products was lagging behind countries with similar public health systems like New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

In the United Kingdom, smokers are being encouraged to swap cigarettes for vapes, with pregnant women to be offered financial incentives to help them quit tobacco smoking.

"[Australia's] prescription model for nicotine has been a flop," Ms Tankard said.

"There were good intentions behind it but it hasn't worked.

"When the prescription model came in a few years ago, we lost half our market when the black market started up."

Queensland has again topped the list to be the divorce capital of Australia, with new Australian Bureau of Statistics data taking in the COVID-19 pandemic for the first time.

There were 56,244 divorces granted in 2021, up 13.6 per cent from the previous year, figures published yesterday revealed.

It's about 6,500 to 7,000 more than recent years, however the ABS warned to be cautious about the large rise, as the courts cleared a backlog of applications.

The largest increase was recorded in New South Wales, with 17,126 in 2021 compared with 14,023 in 2020 and 14,197 in 2019.

However, Queensland has the highest crude divorce rate in the nation — a long-standing title, with the gap widening further.

There were 2.6 divorces granted per 1,000 people in Queensland. That's followed by WA at 2.2 (the national average), and 2.1 in NSW and SA.

The divorce rate in Queensland blew out somewhat, up from 2.3 in 2020 and 2019 — both significantly above the national averages.

Two waves of separation

Family mediator Stacey Turner said she had seen two unique trends emerge during the pandemic.

One occurred immediately during the initial lockdowns in 2020 and what she called a "second wave".

Initially her clients wanted to move on quickly once the pandemic reached Australia — she said they had been sitting on the fence and realised life was fragile.

A hassle-free mediation pre-COVID could take between four to six weeks, but Ms Turner said when COVID-19 hit, weeks were shaved off the process.

"I was mediating, virtually, around the clock morning and night," she said.

"The way people worked together to resolve their matters, they worked far more collaboratively than I had experienced before."

Then came what Ms Turner described as the "second wave" of separation, post lockdown.

"They've got greater mental health issues ... you have economic implications, you've got a significant rental crisis and then you have a change of employment circumstances," she said.

"It's almost a perfect storm if you're adding those things into an already crumbling relationship."

Another factor Ms Turner believed contributed to the number of people divorcing in Queensland is interstate migration, with the state the most popular to move to.

"You're moving away from your ... family connections, your friendship groups and that by itself has an impact that I think people underestimate that," she said.

"Sometimes people move with the hope and expectation that they will make their relationship better when it's already on shaky ground and it simply doesn't translate to that."

Women pressed for time in Queensland

Professor Janeen Baxter of the University of Queensland is a sociologist and director of the Life Course Centre, which studies families over time.

As part of her research she's analysed the Australian government's Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) reports, which surveys about 13,000 households every year.

When considering why Queensland's divorce rate rose again, Professor Baxter said Queensland women reported more time pressure and stress compared to other states in the 2021 HILDA report.

"We can't pinpoint it down to COVID ... there was also the period of bush fires and floods ... but certainly there was an uptick in time pressure and stress for women in Queensland in 2021 that we weren't seeing in other states," she said.

The divorce rate across Australia in 2021 has returned to a level last recorded in 2011 and 2012, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the ABS data showed.

"If you go back the last 120 years looking at divorce data, there is the depression in the 1930s, WWI and WWII, you see rates of divorce are higher in those periods and then lower when the world is not experiencing war or major recession," Professor Baxter said.

"Definitely these broader societal factors do play out in terms of what's happening within households at the micro level."

Both Professor Baxter and Ms Turner agreed that the ABS data doesn't really show the true scope of relationship breakdowns, that is separations.

Divorces are generally only granted after a period of 12 months or more of separation, so the 2021 data would be taking in the first eight months of the pandemic in Australia.

As such, any breakdown of marriages during the pandemic may not be reflected in changes to the divorce rate for some years.

All states and territories, except Australian Capital Territory, recorded increased numbers of divorces granted compared with 2020.

ABS health and vital statistics director James Eynstone-Hinkins said the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia advised the increased number of divorces was in part due to administrative changes that increased finalisations last year.

"Most divorces granted in 2021 resulted from separations prior to the pandemic," he said.

From March 7 Elliott Lovejoy (pictured) and Annabelle ‘AB’ Brett will host The Rush Hour, a brand-new drive show on Triple M for the state, coming from deep in the heart of maroon territory, North Queensland.

With Elliot moving into the statewide program, Tammy Barker and Jason Bodge will now host breakfast on 99.5 Triple M Cairns.

SCA Head of Content – Regional, Blair Woodcock, says, “The Rush Hour with AB & Elliott will celebrate everything local and Queensland, with real music, sport and comedy at its heart. Up to date with insights and insider knowledge along with laughs and yarns that will make listeners’ cheeks hurt, this new drive show will unite regional Queensland communities and celebrate our local heroes.

“Elliott and AB are laid back, they love their sport, they have worked all around the world, they now live in regional Queensland and they’re about as local as you can get. Pairing these two up in their home state is going to be great.

“In an epic tale that goes back two generations, Elliott and AB are destinated to work together. Elliott’s grandfather and AB’s grandmother worked together at Radio 4BH in Brisbane, one of the first stations for the capital.”

Lovejoy has worked throughout Canada, Abu Dhabi and Dubai doing breakfast radio before settling in Cairns on air as Triple M’s Breakfast show host, while Annabelle ‘AB’ Brett is a multitalented content creator, has worked all over the map including breakfast radio in Coffs Harbour, drive radio in Canberra and more recently shone as an anchor and producer with the hit show, Those Two Girls on LiSTNR.

Elliott says he is looking forward to turning off his alarms, “Chances are SCA called the wrong Elliott about this gig but I’m not going to call them on the mistake, it’s an unbelievable opportunity across a wonderful part of Australia. After 10 years in breakfast, I’m looking forward to turning off the alarms and driving regional Queensland home.

“AB has an unmatched work ethic and a desire to create, create, create, and I’m also hoping she allows me to test drive her Tesla at some point.”

The Rush Hour with AB & Elliott on Triple M will air across Queensland to Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Maryborough and Fraser Coast and Toowoomba from 4pm to 6pm Monday to Friday.

Tammy Barker & Bodge for Breakfast on 99.5 Triple M Cairns starts on Monday March 7 and will air weekdays from 5.30am to 9am.

Makayla Carter stands in the muddy ruins of her family home.

The stench from piles of rubbish and damaged goods is overwhelming along the streets of Innisfail.

Neighbours walk from house to house, calling out to help those clearing out their homes.

As the deluge and widespread flooding moves on, a mammoth clean-up operation begins.

Despite the devastation around her, Ms Carter has kept her spirits up.

"We're lucky we didn't lose more, so we're happy about that," she said.

"Before the cyclone hit, we did a massive clean-up, so all the important stuff was already upstairs."

Further north in Cairns, the Mud Army is already mobilising.

From Thursday, the volunteer Cairns Clean Up Crew will help residents move rubbish and clean up their properties, while the State Emergency Service (SES) and Rural Fire Service (RFS) crews are conducting property "wash outs".

Mould removalist expert Gerard Murtagh said despite the discomfort and heat, anyone in the flood zone needed to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and document the clean-up.

"Invest in gumboots or waders … gloves, masks or respirators," he said.

"Speak to your insurance company, take as many photos as you possibly can of every item that's been affected.

"Anything that's been touched by water from the outside, then you must remove it, it cannot be saved."

He said PPE was also critical to protect against exposure to asbestos, a dangerous building material found in floors, walls, and roofs of homes built before 1990, and often used in coastal regions for the iconic beach shack.

It's most dangerous when tiny fibres exposed by damage to the material become airborne and can be breathed in, damaging the lungs, and must be disposed of in special waste facilities.

After a flood, WorkSafe Queensland recommends avoiding handling asbestos unless necessary, wearing PPE, keeping it wet, and never using high pressure hoses to clean it.

Mould grows quickly

Mr Murtagh said mould could grow in 48 hours, even in homes that were not inundated, and encouraged quick action.

"If you do have the skills to be able to remove damaged materials, such as the carpet or plasterboard, then we do recommend you have a go at it yourself," he said.

"You're better off trying to remove that quickly from your home."

Plasterboard in flooded homes must be cut out about 50 centimetres above the waterline and removed, and wall insulation that could be storing pathogens and damp must also be taken out.

Timber or metal studs can be pressure-washed, sprayed with antimicrobial disinfectant, and left to dry completely.

Ventilation and using dry air-conditioning cycles could also help, he said.

Mr Murtagh watched people underestimate the "extremely dangerous" risks of mould during the 2011 Brisbane floods.

"The water has been carried across the ground, which means it picks up pathogens and other microorganisms, faeces, dead animals and all these other nasties which then end up inside our homes," he said.

"Plaster, carpet, furniture items — the large amount of water that ends up going through the home is absorbed by these materials.

"If they're not dried out quickly or discarded, they go mouldy."

Exposure to mould can irritate the eyes, nose, throat and skin, cause asthma flare-ups, hay fever symptoms, and infections, according to WorkSafe Queensland.

It has also been associated with bacterial infections, chronic illness and weakened immune systems.

Calling in the professionals

Mycologist Hieke Neumeister-Kemp urged residents not to underestimate the threat mould posed during the clean-up, or in the weeks ahead.

"It's not something to take lightly," she said.

"They think, 'If I open the windows and I dry it out, then it won't get mouldy,' and then three weeks later they get really, really sick because they haven't got the mould out of the cavities.

She said mould spots larger than a hand would need professional treatment.

"First, you vacuum the loose spores off the surface, then you need microfibre cloth, then you have an 80/20 vinegar solution, or a 30/70 methylated spirits solution, that you spray on and wipe off," she said.

"But then you need to wash the cloth or have a new cloth because otherwise you're going to cross-contaminate it."

Once stripped, structurally dried and cleaned, she said homes needed to be tested through a Post-Remediation Verification (PRV) assessment before rebuilding.

"If the houses aren't properly treated, [the residents] will have constant exposure," she said.

What about books, documents and photos?

As residents like Makayla Carter try to salvage what they can, paintings conservator at the University of Melbourne, Vanessa Kowalski said delicate handling was critical.

"Before moving something like a document or a book, we recommend putting it on something rigid, like a cutting board or a plastic container lid," she said.

"With things like photographs, you've got to be careful not to touch the top of the photograph because that could damage the image."

Removing frames and albums also helped, and if finding space or time to dry thing out was an issue, the freezer could help.

"Not all things can be frozen, but things like documents, albums, photographs, books, textiles, can be," she said.

"That will buy you some more time."