Cultural diversity
Ancestry
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.
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 counts represent responses rather than a single unduplicated person count, while percentages are shown against the total population.
- 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 Penshurst (NSW) were Chinese, English and Australian.
Section overview
Ancestry - Ranked by size
Penshurst (NSW) - Total persons (Usual residence)
This table summarises ancestry for Penshurst (NSW) in 2021 for persons, with comparison against Georges River (A) and change since 2016.
This area boundary has changed from 2016 to 2021. As a result, 2016 values are mapped onto 2021 suburb boundaries using ABS concordance.
Ancestry - Ranked by size snapshot
2021 distribution by category for Penshurst (NSW), with comparison markers for Georges River (A).
Chinese
English
Australian
Nepalese
Irish
Greek
Italian
Scottish
Filipino
Indian
Chart view
Ancestry - Ranked by size change
Absolute change in category counts between 2016 and 2021.
Chinese
-136
-0.5pp
English
-60
-0.2pp
Australian
-111
-0.6pp
Nepalese
+263
+2.2pp
Irish
-104
-0.7pp
Greek
+8
+0.2pp
Italian
+39
+0.3pp
Scottish
-63
-0.4pp
Filipino
+72
+0.7pp
Indian
-109
-0.8pp
Data table
Ancestry for Penshurst (NSW). Ancestry - Ranked by size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Georges River (A).
| Category | 2021 | 2016 | Change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | % | Georges River (A)% | Count | % | Georges River (A)% | Count | pp | |
| Chinese | 3,084 | 24.5% | 26.1% | 3,220 | 25.0% | 27.8% | -136 | -0.5pp |
| English | 2,017 | 16.0% | 15.2% | 2,077 | 16.2% | 16.3% | -60 | -0.2pp |
| Australian | 1,812 | 14.4% | 14.7% | 1,923 | 15.0% | 15.5% | -111 | -0.6pp |
| Nepalese | 1,186 | 9.4% | 5.9% | 923 | 7.2% | 3.5% | +263 | +2.2pp |
| Irish | 728 | 5.8% | 5.1% | 832 | 6.5% | 5.9% | -104 | -0.7pp |
| Greek | 675 | 5.4% | 7.8% | 667 | 5.2% | 7.4% | +8 | +0.2pp |
| Italian | 522 | 4.1% | 4.3% | 483 | 3.8% | 4.1% | +39 | +0.3pp |
| Scottish | 506 | 4.0% | 3.8% | 569 | 4.4% | 4.1% | -63 | -0.4pp |
| Filipino | 449 | 3.6% | 2.4% | 377 | 2.9% | 2.0% | +72 | +0.7pp |
| Indian | 307 | 2.4% | 2.1% | 416 | 3.2% | 2.3% | -109 | -0.8pp |
Excludes ancestries with fewer than 10 responses (multi-response).