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 Bungalow were English, Australian and Irish.

Section overview

Ancestry - Ranked by size

Bungalow - Total persons (Usual residence)

This table summarises ancestry for Bungalow in 2021 for persons, with comparison against Cairns (R) and change since 2016.

Ancestry - Ranked by size snapshot

2021 distribution by category for Bungalow, with comparison markers for Cairns (R).

Bungalow
Cairns (R)

English

2021 count

672

% of total

28.5%

Change from 2016

+1.9pp

Australian

2021 count

524

% of total

22.2%

Change from 2016

-7.4pp

Irish

2021 count

236

% of total

10.0%

Change from 2016

0.0pp

Australian Aboriginal

2021 count

222

% of total

9.4%

Change from 2016

+7.7pp

Scottish

2021 count

185

% of total

7.8%

Change from 2016

-1.7pp

Torres Strait Islander

2021 count

169

% of total

7.2%

Change from 2016

+5.5pp

German

2021 count

91

% of total

3.9%

Change from 2016

+0.4pp

Chinese

2021 count

81

% of total

3.4%

Change from 2016

+0.2pp

Filipino

2021 count

76

% of total

3.2%

Change from 2016

-0.5pp

Japanese

2021 count

66

% of total

2.8%

Change from 2016

-0.3pp

Data table

Ancestry for Bungalow. Ancestry - Ranked by size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Cairns (R).

Ancestry for Bungalow. Ancestry - Ranked by size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Cairns (R).
Ancestry for Bungalow. Ancestry - Ranked by size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Cairns (R).
Category20212016Change
Count%Cairns (R)%Count%Cairns (R)%Countpp
English67228.5%34.4%57526.6%35.1%+97+1.9pp
Australian52422.2%30.0%64029.6%34.6%-116-7.4pp
Irish23610.0%10.5%21510.0%11.6%+210.0pp
Australian Aboriginal2229.4%7.1%371.7%1.2%+185+7.7pp
Scottish1857.8%9.3%2059.5%9.4%-20-1.7pp
Torres Strait Islander1697.2%4.3%371.7%1.0%+132+5.5pp
German913.9%5.2%763.5%5.4%+15+0.4pp
Chinese813.4%2.0%693.2%2.1%+12+0.2pp
Filipino763.2%1.9%803.7%1.6%-4-0.5pp
Japanese662.8%1.6%683.1%1.6%-2-0.3pp

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