Over a century ago, the face of the average Australian was a young 24-year-old male. Fast forward to today, and that image has transformed into that of a 38-year-old woman, highlighting the significant societal changes that have taken place over the years.

This evolution is just one among many shifts documented since the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) embarked on its first Census surveys back in 1911. At that time, the population count stood at 4.4 million, a figure that notably omitted the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

In those early days, the Census only accounted for “full-blooded Australian Aboriginals” who were either employed by white settlers or resided near settlements. In the 1911 Census, a total of 19,939 Aboriginal individuals were recorded, with men comprising 11,385 of that number.

Presently, the emblematic Australian is a 38-year-old woman, born in Australia and speaking English at home, reflecting the demographic and cultural transformations that have shaped the nation over the decades.

The picture remained largely incomplete until a full count of First Nations people was mandated in the 1967 referendum. The most recent Census in 2021 tells us that 3.2 per cent of Australia’s total population of 25 million people identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander — approximately 812,000 residents.

Australia’s population has also ballooned since that first Census, and as of June 2024, is now estimated to be 27 million.

So, on the eve of January 26, SBS News wanted to ask: who are we, really?

Let’s find out.

We were born in Australia and live in major cities

Almost 70 per cent of residents were born in Australia, according to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) estimates from June 2023.

Tasmania has the highest Australian-born population (79 per cent), while Victoria has the lowest (65 per cent).

The overwhelming majority of Australians live in major cities — making up 73 per cent of the population.

A quarter live in inner regional and outer regional areas, while the remaining 1.9 per cent live in remote and very remote areas.

Three-bedroom homes are the most common form of housing, according to the 2021 Census, with 37 per cent of Australians living in a three-bedroom property. However, those in Western Australia are more likely to live in a four-bedroom home, with 37 per cent doing so.

We’re married and have more than one child

A couple with children is still the most common family composition in Australia, representing almost 30 per cent of residents, according to Census data from 2021.

This trend is consistent across most jurisdictions, except South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, where couples with no children are more common.

The average number of children per family in Australia is 1.8, and 58 per cent of families have two or more children in the household.

Around a third of Australians are married, and this is the most common marital status response everywhere except the NT, where “not married” is the most common answer (29 per cent).

We earn around $1,436 per week

The median wage for Australians is $1,436 a week ($74,672 a year) before tax, so if you earn more than this, your income is higher than half of all working Australians.

If you’re working full-time, the median is higher, rising to $1,887 a week before tax ($98,124 a year), according to the latest ABS employee earnings release published on Friday.

The median for men is even higher — $1,994 a week — which equates to $103,688 a year. For women working full-time, it is $1,758 a week ($91,416 a year).

We’re a nation of migrants

Australians are slightly more likely to have at least one parent born overseas (48 per cent), than for both parents to be born in Australia (46 per cent).

But the picture can vary widely depending on which state you live in.

In Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the NT, residents are more likely to have both parents born in Australia.

Notably, 67 per cent of Tasmanians report both parents were born in Australia.

But in other states, you are slightly more likely to have at least one parent born overseas. In Western Australia, 56 per cent of residents had at least one overseas-born parent.

But we mostly speak English at home

Around 72 per cent of residents speak English at home, nationally — this increases to 86 per cent in Tasmania.

The second most common language is Mandarin, with 2.7 per cent speaking it at home. It holds this rank in every jurisdiction except the NT, where Kriol is the second most common language. The NT also has the highest proportion of people who speak a language other than English (32 per cent).

The most common ancestry in Australia is also English (32 per cent), which remains the top response in all jurisdictions, except the NT, where 24 per cent are Australian Aboriginal.

Migrants are also commonly from England

For those not born in Australia, the most common birthplace is England, with 4 per cent being of English origin.

But this varies widely depending on the state or territory.

In NSW, migrants were most commonly born in China (3 per cent); in Victoria and ACT, India was the most common birthplace (around 4 per cent); in Queensland, New Zealand (4 per cent); and in the NT, it was the Philippines (3 per cent).

We’re slaves to our mortgages

The most common housing tenure type — which describes whether a property is owned or rented — in Australia is a home owned with a mortgage. Nearly a third of Australians (30 per cent) are in this situation.

But the picture changes if you live in NSW and the NT, where it’s more common to rent (28.5 per cent of people rent in NSW, and 37.5 per cent in the NT).

It’s a completely different story in Tasmania, where it’s more common for people to own their homes outright, with 32 per cent doing so.

Twenty years ago, it was most common for Australians to own their home outright (that is, without a mortgage), with 30 per cent doing so in 2006. But by 2011, this changed to owning a home with a mortgage (30 per cent ).

In NSW, the shift has been even more stark, with renting now the most common response (29 per cent).

We own two cars

The typical Australian owns two cars, with 34 per cent having access to two vehicles.

But in NSW and the NT, it is more common to own just one car (35 per cent in NSW and 32 per cent in NT).

We’re getting older, and more of us are female

The median age in Australia is 38, but some jurisdictions skew older or younger. In Tasmania, the median is 42, while in the NT, it’s 33.

Australians are getting older. In 2001 the median age was 35.7, and in 1911, the median age was 24.

We are also slightly more likely to be female, with 51 per cent of the population identifying as such.

This holds true for every state and territory except the NT, where 50.5 per cent are male.

More than half of all men aged 15 and over do some housework each week — 56 per cent perform up to 14 hours of unpaid domestic duties — but 27 per cent did none.

Around 25 per cent of women did no housework, but 46.15 per cent reported completing between five and 29 hours of unpaid domestic duties in one week.

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