Ouse, TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Ouse is a small town in Tasmania's Central Highlands, set on the Lyell Highway about 95 kilometres north-west of Hobart and 58 kilometres beyond New Norfolk. It was established in 1842, though the Ouse Post Office had already opened in 1835, making it one of the older postal addresses in the district. The town has a small footnote in the colony's convict story: it was here that the escapees James Goodwin and Thomas Connolly emerged from the rugged South West Wilderness, weeks after fleeing the penal station on Sarah Island. A bush nursing centre that grew into the Ouse District Hospital, together with the local district school, has long anchored services for the surrounding Highlands community.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Ouse is more socio-economically advantaged than about 10% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 890, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Is Ouse a good place to live?
There’s no single answer — it depends on what matters to you. So instead of one mystery number, we break it down: a transparent score on each part of life we can back with public data, and an honest “not yet” on the parts we can’t.
Below the national middle on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Ouse from public data. It sits alongside — and reconciles with — the socio-economic Suburb Score above; it is a transparent read, not a complete verdict.
Socio-economic advantage
10/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (10/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
91/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $129 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 91% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- Amenities & accessNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap amenity mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- Green spaceNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap green-space mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- TransportNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap public-transport mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- SchoolsNot scored yet — school performance (ACARA / ICSEA) needs a data-reuse licence cleared before we can publish it.
- SafetyNot scored yet — Australia has no single open crime dataset and safety data carries defamation and legal care, so it is gated pending a go/no-go and will be data-only when added.
- CommunityNot scored yet — we won't reduce community to a number from a proxy. We'd rather leave it open than publish an invented value judgement.
A transparent read on public data, not a verdict — and not a measure of any person or community. See our methodology for how each component is worked out and why some aren’t scored yet.
Ouse at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 326
- Median age
- 46
- Median weekly household income
- $850
- SEIFA score
- 890
- Local government area
- Central Highlands (Tas.)
- Coordinates
- -42.4356, 146.7119
Map of Ouse
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Ouse
What it costs to live in Ouse and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $129
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $815
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 54%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 32%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Ouse demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Ouse demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Ouse using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is seniors (65+) at 28% and 10% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 60 | 19% |
| Youth (15–24) | 39 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 54 | 17% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 79 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 90 | 28% |
Share of the 322 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 56 | 40% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 19 | 14% |
| Rented | 44 | 32% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 133 | 100% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 133 occupied private dwellings in Ouse.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,262
- Median weekly personal income
- $537
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 29 (10%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 3 (1%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 6 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 81 (32%)
- Labour-force participation
- 49.4%
- Unemployment rate
- 7.6%
- Employed full-time
- 78
- Employed part-time
- 36
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
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Common questions about Ouse
Is Ouse a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage and housing affordability, Ouse rates 37/100 overall (Below the national middle on the data we score). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Ouse?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Ouse was $129, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $815. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Ouse?
Ouse is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia, in the Central Highlands (Tas.) local government area.
What is the population of Ouse?
At the 2021 Census, Ouse had a population of about 326.
Is Ouse an advantaged area?
Ouse has an ABS SEIFA score of 890, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 10 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 10% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Tasmania
More suburb guides in Tasmania
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