Young, female and living in the city: the face of Australia in 2024
As planners consider the future of our cities and regional centres, clear patterns are emerging of where people of all ages and sexes choose to live
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Our cities are home to more women than men and there are more younger people choosing the capitals over regional areas, new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown.
The Regional Population by Age and Sex Report revealed Darwin was the capital with the lowest median age at 34.6 years, as well as being the only capital with a higher proportion of males to females.
Once known as the city of churches, Adelaide had the oldest population by median age at 39.2 years. The breakdown by town or suburb is even more revealing, with Acton and Duntroon in the ACT recording the lowest median age at 20.8 years and 21.8 years respectively. One area is popular with university students while the other is home to a high number of military personnel.
At the other end of the scale, the retirement hotspots of Tea Gardens-Hawks Nest in NSW (66.2 years), Bribie Island (63.6 years) and Cooloola (62.4 years) in Queensland and Point Lonsdale-Queenscliff (62.2 years) in Victoria had the highest median ages in the country.
Higher median ages were also reflected in the male to female ratios, with women’s higher life expectancy resulting in more women relative to men in some areas. In the Sydney suburb of Woollahra, there were 80.9 males to every 100 females and in Mornington West in Melbourne, there were 82.4 males to every 100 females.
Areas with extremely high proportions of males to females were either mining communities (274.2 males per 100 females in East Pilbara), male correctional facilities (278.1 males per 100 females in Wacol near Brisbane) or military training centres (227.0 males per 100 females at Duntroon in the ACT).
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A legacy “partner” lease structure tied to sales, not fixed rent, is drawing investor attention as a potential hedge against inflation.
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A McDonald’s restaurant in Yass has been brought to market with one of the last remaining pure turnover leases in Australia, offering investors a direct share of revenue rather than a traditional fixed rental return.
The asset, located at 1713 Yass Valley Way, is being marketed by JLL via an expressions of interest campaign closing on 30 April. It is underpinned by a legacy lease structure no longer offered by McDonald’s in Australia.
Under the arrangement, the landlord receives 6.5 cents for every dollar spent at the restaurant, creating uncapped income growth linked directly to sales performance.
The lease is structured as triple net, meaning no operational risk, capital expenditure obligations or management responsibilities for the owner.
According to JLL, the property has recorded compounded annual sales growth of 4.26 per cent since 2003, with rental income rising by 150 per cent over the same period.
JLL’s David Mahood said the structure allows investors to “participate directly in the sales growth” of the business, rather than relying on fixed annual rent reviews.
The newly commenced lease runs to 2036, with four additional 10-year options extending to 2076, providing a weighted average lease expiry of 9.92 years by income.
The asset sits on a 3,571 square metre freehold site in Yass, with significant frontage to the Hume Highway, one of Australia’s busiest freight corridors.
The location benefits from high volumes of passing traffic, including an estimated 75,000 vehicles per day.
The quick service restaurant sector has remained resilient through economic cycles, including the pandemic and recent cost-of-living pressures, with McDonald’s continuing to expand its footprint and invest in store upgrades across Australia.
JLL pointed to strong investor demand for McDonald’s-backed assets, with recent transactions typically yielding between the high 2 per cent to mid 3 per cent range.
The Yass listing is expected to attract interest due to the scarcity of turnover-based leases, which provide a natural hedge against inflation by linking income growth to consumer spending rather than predetermined increases.
McDonald’s Yass is available for sale via an Expressions of Interest campaign closing at 3:00pm (AEST) on Thursday, April 30.
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