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 Circular Head (M) were Australian, English and Australian Aboriginal.

Section overview

Ancestry - Ranked by size

Circular Head (M) - Total persons (Usual residence)

This table summarises ancestry for Circular Head (M) in 2021 for persons, with comparison against Regional Tas. and change since 2016.

Ancestry - Ranked by size change

Absolute change in category counts between 2016 and 2021.

2016
2021

Australian

-488

-3.6pp

English

-63

-0.9pp

Australian Aboriginal

+1,122

+6.9pp

Irish

-16

-0.2pp

Scottish

-46

-0.4pp

German

-33

-0.2pp

Dutch

+5

0.0pp

New Zealander

-15

-0.1pp

Maori

-6

0.0pp

Chinese

+13

+0.1pp

Data table

Ancestry for Circular Head (M). Ancestry - Ranked by size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Regional Tas..

Ancestry for Circular Head (M). Ancestry - Ranked by size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Regional Tas..
Ancestry for Circular Head (M). Ancestry - Ranked by size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Regional Tas..
Category20212016Change
Count%Regional Tas.%Count%Regional Tas.%Countpp
Australian3,58522.1%21.3%4,07325.7%22.5%-488-3.6pp
English3,19619.7%22.3%3,25920.6%22.3%-63-0.9pp
Australian Aboriginal1,1667.2%2.7%440.3%0.2%+1,122+6.9pp
Irish7644.7%4.9%7804.9%5.1%-16-0.2pp
Scottish6113.8%4.7%6574.2%4.6%-46-0.4pp
German1781.1%1.7%2111.3%1.7%-33-0.2pp
Dutch1661.0%1.1%1611.0%1.0%+50.0pp
Pakistani1040.6%0.1%--0.0%--
New Zealander700.4%0.2%850.5%0.2%-15-0.1pp
Torres Strait Islander580.4%0.2%--0.0%--
Total16,250100.0%100.0%15,827100.0%100.0%+4230.0pp

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