Cultural diversity

Ancestry

About this topic

Ancestry describes a person's cultural association and ethnic background, and Census respondents can report more than one ancestry. It is a broader cultural measure than country of birth because it can reflect family heritage across generations.

This topic helps show the size and diversity of cultural groups in an area, including groups whose members were born in Australia. Because multiple ancestries can be reported, ancestry totals can exceed the total population, so it is best read with birthplace, language used at home, and religion.

Interpretation notes

  • People can report up to two ancestries, so category totals represent responses rather than a single unduplicated person count.
  • ABS advises that ancestry is best used with birthplace and language, because ancestry alone is a broad measure of ethnicity and cultural background.
  • The 2021 form added separate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mark boxes, so those categories need caution in over-time comparison.

Key insight

In 2021, the largest ancestry groups among residents in Wilsons Creek were English, Australian and Irish.

Section overview

Ancestry - Ranked by size

Wilsons Creek - Total persons (Usual residence)

This table summarises ancestry for Wilsons Creek in 2021 for persons, with comparison against Byron (A) and change since 2016.

Ancestry - Ranked by size snapshot

2021 distribution by category for Wilsons Creek, with comparison markers for Byron (A).

Wilsons Creek
Byron (A)

English

2021 count

163

% of total

35.0%

Change from 2016

+1.4pp

Australian

2021 count

128

% of total

27.5%

Change from 2016

+1.2pp

Irish

2021 count

55

% of total

11.8%

Change from 2016

-3.5pp

Scottish

2021 count

49

% of total

10.5%

Change from 2016

+4.1pp

German

2021 count

39

% of total

8.4%

Change from 2016

+1.1pp

Dutch

2021 count

12

% of total

2.6%

Change from 2016

+1.9pp

Other North African and Middle Eastern, nec

2021 count

11

% of total

2.4%

Change from 2016

-0.7pp

Polish

2021 count

10

% of total

2.1%

Change from 2016

-0.3pp

Japanese

2021 count

10

% of total

2.1%

Change from 2016

+0.3pp

Data table

Ancestry for Wilsons Creek. Ancestry - Ranked by size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Byron (A).

Ancestry for Wilsons Creek. Ancestry - Ranked by size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Byron (A).
Ancestry for Wilsons Creek. Ancestry - Ranked by size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Byron (A).
Category20212016Change
Count%Byron (A)%Count%Byron (A)%Countpp
English16335.0%40.3%15233.6%39.2%+11+1.4pp
Australian12827.5%30.0%11926.3%33.9%+9+1.2pp
Irish5511.8%15.3%6915.3%14.8%-14-3.5pp
Scottish4910.5%12.0%296.4%11.2%+20+4.1pp
German398.4%6.1%337.3%5.4%+6+1.1pp
Dutch122.6%2.0%30.7%1.8%+9+1.9pp
Other North African and Middle Eastern, nec112.4%0.5%143.1%0.5%-3-0.7pp
Polish102.1%1.1%112.4%0.9%-1-0.3pp
Japanese102.1%0.8%81.8%0.6%+2+0.3pp

Excludes ancestries with fewer than 10 responses (multi-response).