Post-Census updates

JobSeeker recipients

About this topic

This page tracks JobSeeker and Youth Allowance (other) recipients for Cook (S) at SA2 level. It provides a more current signal of labour-market stress and socio-economic pressure than Census-only views.

The current comparison uses January 2026 against June 2023. Rates are calculated against the available ERP 15-64 population for each period.

Key insight

In January 2026, 815 people in Cook (S) were receiving JobSeeker or Youth Allowance (other), equal to 26.7% of the working-age population, compared with 772 (25.3%) in June 2023. Cape York (part) had the highest current rate and Weipa (part) the lowest.

815

Recipients January 2026

26.7% of 15-64 population

+43

Change since June 2023

25.3% to 26.7%

26.7%

Highest SA2 rate

Cape York (part)

3.3%

Lowest SA2 rate

Weipa (part)

Chart view

Recipients by SA2

Current rate on the bar, comparison rate as the marker. Sorted by current rate.

Cook (S):26.7%
Rest of Qld:7.1%
Queensland:6.2%

Cape York (part)

26.7%

25.3%

Weipa (part)

3.3%

3.1%

Comparison rateCurrent LGA rateHigher-than-LGA SA2s shown in accent

Data table

JobSeeker rates by SA2

Download recipient counts and rates for the current and comparison months.

SA2January 2026 recipientsJanuary 2026 rateJune 2023 recipientsJune 2023 rate
Cape York (part)81526.7%77225.3%
Weipa (part)03.3%03.1%
Source: Department of Social Services, data.gov.au. Rates use ERP 15-64 population denominators. Compiled by Geografia.