NATIONAL

Who was the ‘typical’ Australian in 2016?
Thanks to the 2016 Census, we know that the ‘typical’ Australian is a 38 year old female. Let’s call her ‘Claire’. A decade ago, the ‘typical’ Australian would have been a year younger.

Australia’s population has changed a lot over the past 105 years – in 1911, when the first Census was taken, the ‘typical’ Aussie was a 24 year old male, but women have outnumbered men since 1979.

The ‘typical’ Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person is also female, but she’s younger: 23 years old, in fact.

Looking across the country, the Census tells us the ‘typical’ Australian male or female was born in Australia, has English ancestry and parents also born in Australia. But there are plenty of local differences. For example, a ‘typical’ person from New South Wales, Victoria or Western Australia has at least one parent who was born overseas.

Want to know more? The Census also tells us the ‘typical’ Aussie is married with two children, completed Year 12 and lives in a three bedroom house with two motor vehicles.

Men are from Maroochydore, women are from Werombi
How about the differences between Australian males and females?

The ‘typical’ Aussie male is 37 years old and spends less than five hours a week on domestic work. The ‘typical’ Aussie female is 38 years old and spends between five and 14 hours a week on domestic work.

The ‘typical’ Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander female is 24 years old, which is two years older than the ‘typical’ Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander male.

How we live now, as opposed to then
The ‘typical’ Australian lives in a three-bedroom house. However, the ‘typical’ Western Australian has a bit more space, living in a four-bedroom house. This was the case in 2011 and 2006 as well.

In 2016, the ‘typical’ Australian home is owned with a mortgage, but location makes a difference. The ‘typical’ Tasmanian home is owned outright, while the ‘typical’ Northern Territory home is rented. In 2006, the ‘typical’ Aussie home was owned outright.

Where was the ‘typical’ migrant born?
Australia has a growing proportion of people who were born overseas. The ‘typical’ migrant in Australia was born in England and is 44 years old (a change from 46 years old a decade ago).

There are differences between the states. The ‘typical’ migrant in Queensland was born in New Zealand. In Victoria, they’re born in India. And in New South Wales, it’s China.

We’re an eclectic lot
While the Census provides plenty of info on the ‘typical’ Australian, it also shows we’re a big, diverse community. There’s nothing typical about Australians.

Note:
• The mode is the most commonly occurring value in a distribution.
• Statements of typical age in this release are median values. The median is the middle value in distribution when the values are arranged in ascending or descending order.
• The most common response for each data item is calculated independently. For example, if the 'typical' person is male and the 'typical' person does 5-14 hours of unpaid domestic work per week, this does not imply that the 'typical' male does 5-14 hours of unpaid domestic work per week.
• No detailed Census data will be issued with this information. Datasets for the above characteristics will be released as part of the main release of 2016 Census data on Tuesday, 27 June 2017.