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 Wantirna South were Chinese, English and Australian.
Section overview
Ancestry - Ranked by size
Wantirna South - Total persons (Usual residence)
This table summarises ancestry for Wantirna South in 2021 for persons, with comparison against Knox (C) 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.
Chart view
Ancestry - Ranked by size snapshot
2021 distribution by category for Wantirna South, with comparison markers for Knox (C).
Chinese
English
Australian
Indian
Irish
Scottish
Italian
Greek
Sri Lankan
German
Ancestry - Ranked by size change
Absolute change in category counts between 2016 and 2021.
Chinese
+1,330
+4.7pp
English
-234
-2.9pp
Australian
+37
-1.3pp
Indian
+173
+0.4pp
Irish
-97
-0.9pp
Scottish
-113
-1.1pp
Italian
-61
-0.5pp
Greek
-13
-0.3pp
Sri Lankan
-113
-0.8pp
German
-49
-0.4pp
Data table
Ancestry for Wantirna South. Ancestry - Ranked by size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Knox (C).
| Category | 2021 | 2016 | Change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | % | Knox (C)% | Count | % | Knox (C)% | Count | pp | |
| Chinese | 5,952 | 28.7% | 14.1% | 4,622 | 24.0% | 11.1% | +1,330 | +4.7pp |
| English | 4,593 | 22.1% | 29.6% | 4,827 | 25.0% | 31.5% | -234 | -2.9pp |
| Australian | 3,991 | 19.2% | 27.8% | 3,954 | 20.5% | 29.2% | +37 | -1.3pp |
| Indian | 1,324 | 6.4% | 4.3% | 1,151 | 6.0% | 3.7% | +173 | +0.4pp |
| Irish | 1,177 | 5.7% | 8.0% | 1,274 | 6.6% | 9.2% | -97 | -0.9pp |
| Scottish | 1,151 | 5.5% | 7.8% | 1,264 | 6.6% | 8.1% | -113 | -1.1pp |
| Italian | 758 | 3.7% | 4.8% | 819 | 4.2% | 4.9% | -61 | -0.5pp |
| Greek | 527 | 2.5% | 2.2% | 540 | 2.8% | 2.3% | -13 | -0.3pp |
| Sri Lankan | 478 | 2.3% | 1.9% | 591 | 3.1% | 2.2% | -113 | -0.8pp |
| German | 451 | 2.2% | 3.8% | 500 | 2.6% | 4.0% | -49 | -0.4pp |
Excludes ancestries with fewer than 10 responses (multi-response).