Parndana, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Parndana is a small town in the centre of Kangaroo Island in South Australia, about 155 kilometres south-west of Adelaide and 40 kilometres from Kingscote. Its name is said to mean 'the place of little gums', after the low eucalypts nearby. The town was created as a soldier settlement after the Second World War: returned servicemen and their families began arriving in 1948, at first living in huts left from a wartime internment camp before moving onto cleared farms from 1951. The town was proclaimed in 1951, and about 174 families took up blocks, nearly doubling the island's population by 1954. The Soldier Settlement Museum records their hard work clearing the scrub, and Parndana today has an area school, a community hotel and two general stores.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Parndana is more socio-economically advantaged than about 8% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 882, 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.
Parndana at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 155
- Median age
- 43
- Median weekly household income
- $1,100
- SEIFA score
- 882
- Coordinates
- -35.7835, 137.2560
Parndana demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Parndana 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 mid-life (45–64) at 27%, 30% of homes are rented, and 10% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 32 | 20% |
| Youth (15–24) | 7 | 4% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 41 | 25% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 44 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 37 | 23% |
Share of the 161 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 20 | 33% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 22 | 37% |
| Rented | 18 | 30% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 56 | 95% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 59 occupied private dwellings in Parndana.
- Median weekly rent
- $200
- Median monthly mortgage
- $880
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,375
- Median weekly personal income
- $687
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 13 (10%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 14 (10%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 8 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 50 (42%)
- Labour-force participation
- 59.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.5%
- Employed full-time
- 35
- Employed part-time
- 20
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.
Common questions about Parndana
Where is Parndana?
Parndana is a suburb of South Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Parndana?
At the 2021 Census, Parndana had a population of about 155.
Is Parndana an advantaged area?
Parndana has an ABS SEIFA score of 882, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 8 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 8% of Australian suburbs.
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