ABS: This Is The Typical Australian

After a painful data collection process, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has finally begun to release its findings from the 2016 Census. The organisation has released a “preview” of the key characteristics that make today’s typical Aussie. According to ABS data, the typical Australian is a 38-year old native-born mum with English ancestry. Here are her full statistics.

The fruits of ABS’ tortuously bungled labour are finally beginning to emerge. This week, the 2016 Census delivered its first insight, revealing what characteristics make up the “typical Australian”:

The 2016 Census has revealed the ‘typical’ Australian is a 38 year old female who was born in Australia, and is of English ancestry. She is married and lives in a couple family with two children and has completed Year 12. She lives in a house with three bedrooms and two motor vehicles.

Here’s the full dataset:

The ‘Typical’ Australian
Median age 38
Country of birth Australia
Parents’ country of birth Both in Australia
Language spoken at home English
Ancestry English
Marital status Married
Family composition Couple with children
Total number of children Two
Highest year of school completed Year 12
Unpaid domestic work hours 5 to 12 hours
Number of motor vehicles Two
Number of bedrooms in private dwelling Three
Tenure type Owned with a mortgage

Interestingly, when broken down between states and territories, the above results vary. For example, the typical Tasmanian is a more mature 42 years old, while people who live in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia have at least one parent who was born overseas. The typical Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person is significantly younger than the national average, at 23 years of age.

The ABS also found that a typical Aussie male spends less than five hours a week on domestic work, while the typical female spends between five and 14 hours a week on domestic work.

One thing that sticks out: the typical Australian owns a house with a mortgage. We’re willing to bet that this trend will have reversed by the time of the next Census comes out: the current generation is largely comprised of renters who lack the wherewithal to purchase property. (And a lot of them don’t appear to be that interested.)

“The information released today is just a glimpse of what can be expected when 2016 Census data… thanks to the participation of Australians in last year’s Census,” the ABS said in a statement. “The June release will follow the completion of the ABS’ usual data quality assurance process and the Census Independent Assurance Panel’s quality assurance work.”

The full 2016 Census data release will occur on 27 June 2017. This will include datasets for all national, state/territory and capital cities. We’ll be sure to report on all the interesting revelations as soon as we get hold of the report.

[Via ABS]

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2016/08/is-it-legal-to-leave-the-census-blank/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/08/census-410×231.png” title=”Is It Legal To Leave The Census Blank?” excerpt=”In the lead up to Census night, some Australians are very much against participating as this will be the first time name and address information will be retained by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The Census is compulsory, as the ABS continues to remind us, but is it legal to leave the survey form blank? Let’s find out.”]


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