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 Trinity Beach were English, Australian and Irish.

Section overview

Ancestry - Ranked by size

Trinity Beach - Total persons (Usual residence)

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

Ancestry - Ranked by size snapshot

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

Trinity Beach
Cairns (R)

English

2021 count

2,743

% of total

41.6%

Change from 2016

+0.1pp

Australian

2021 count

2,068

% of total

31.4%

Change from 2016

-2.0pp

Irish

2021 count

768

% of total

11.6%

Change from 2016

-0.8pp

Scottish

2021 count

758

% of total

11.5%

Change from 2016

+0.5pp

German

2021 count

360

% of total

5.5%

Change from 2016

-0.4pp

Italian

2021 count

259

% of total

3.9%

Change from 2016

+0.6pp

Australian Aboriginal

2021 count

216

% of total

3.3%

Change from 2016

+2.8pp

Dutch

2021 count

134

% of total

2.0%

Change from 2016

-0.3pp

Papua New Guinean

2021 count

119

% of total

1.8%

Change from 2016

+0.6pp

Chinese

2021 count

110

% of total

1.7%

Change from 2016

+0.4pp

Data table

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

Ancestry for Trinity Beach. Ancestry - Ranked by size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Cairns (R).
Ancestry for Trinity Beach. Ancestry - Ranked by size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Cairns (R).
Category20212016Change
Count%Cairns (R)%Count%Cairns (R)%Countpp
English2,74341.6%34.4%2,27841.5%35.1%+465+0.1pp
Australian2,06831.4%30.0%1,83233.4%34.6%+236-2.0pp
Irish76811.6%10.5%67912.4%11.6%+89-0.8pp
Scottish75811.5%9.3%60411.0%9.4%+154+0.5pp
German3605.5%5.2%3245.9%5.4%+36-0.4pp
Italian2593.9%5.0%1803.3%4.8%+79+0.6pp
Australian Aboriginal2163.3%7.1%290.5%1.2%+187+2.8pp
Dutch1342.0%1.6%1272.3%1.6%+7-0.3pp
Papua New Guinean1191.8%1.7%681.2%1.6%+51+0.6pp
Chinese1101.7%2.0%711.3%2.1%+39+0.4pp

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