Given that it’s a 38-year-old married woman living in a three-bedroom house, probably not. With initial findings from the 2016 Census revealed, do you identify with any of the ‘typicals’ noted around the country?
While the gender of the typical Australian hasn’t changed in the last decade, her age has – she’s now one year older. But since the first Census in 1911, a lot has changed for the typical Australian. Back then she was a he and would have been 24 years old; since 1979, however, women have outnumbered men.
Despite the worries over increased immigration, the typical Australian is still born in this country to parents who were also born in Australia. The language spoken at home is English and her ancestry is British. Not only is she well-educated having completed Year 12, she’s also in a registered marriage and has two children, owns two cars and has a mortgage.
The typical man is one year younger than his female counterpart at 37 and does less than five hours domestic work each week; his female counterpart does between five and 14.
When it comes to homeownership, typical Tasmanians own their homes outright, while typicals from the Northern Territory are more likely to rent.
Migrants to Australia haven’t changed much either, with the typical migrant at 44 years of age and born in England. However, across our states it’s a different story, with migrants in Victoria more likely to come from India; in New South Wales, from China; and Queensland, just a skip across the ditch from New Zealand is home to many Kiwis.
Full Census findings will be released mid-year but in the meantime, if you want to know more about who and what is typical in Australia, visit abs.gov.au
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