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Bass Coast ShireCommunity profile

Wonthaggi - Cape Paterson

Ancestry

The three largest ancestries in Wonthaggi - Cape Paterson in 2021 were English, Australian and Scottish.

Ancestry defines the cultural association and ethnic background of an individual going back three generations. Ancestry is a good measure of the total size of cultural groups in Wonthaggi - Cape Paterson regardless of where they were born or what language they speak.

Ancestry data, should be combined with data on Birthplace, Language Spoken at Home and Religion for a more complete picture of Wonthaggi - Cape Paterson's ethnic characteristics.

Please note that the "Australian Aboriginal" and "Torres Strait Islander" categories in this topic are not directly comparable from 2021 to previous years, due to a change in the wording of the question. In 2021, these options were marked boxes on the question rather than write-in options. The "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Origin" question is still considered a more reliable count for this group, and can be found on the Population summary page.

Please note: Due to changes in ABS rules around perturbation and additivity of data to protect the confidentiality of individuals, counts of ancestry groups and totals derived from them may differ slightly from those published by the ABS. For more information see notes on data confidentiality.

Q:

Derived from the Census question:

'What is the person's ancestry?'

Multi-response

Ancestry - Totals
Wonthaggi - Cape Paterson - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Ancestry totalsNumber%Bass Coast Shire %Number%Bass Coast Shire %2016 to 2021
Not stated4474.95.25657.25.7-119
Total responses9,090----7,833----+1,257
Total people6,806----6,300----+505
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information
Ancestry - Ranked by size
Wonthaggi - Cape Paterson - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
AncestryNumber%Bass Coast Shire %Number%Bass Coast Shire %2016 to 2021
English2,97843.843.42,62541.742.5+353
Australian2,66739.238.12,51439.939.9+152
Scottish90213.312.475712.012.2+144
Irish77411.412.669411.012.0+79
Italian4576.74.93976.34.6+60
German2834.23.82113.43.5+72
Dutch1692.53.11482.42.7+20
Australian Aboriginal1101.61.100.00.1+110
Indian580.90.6350.60.5+23
Chinese570.80.8500.80.8+7
Show all (36 entries)

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

Dominant groups

Analysis of the ancestry responses of the population in Wonthaggi - Cape Paterson in 2021 shows that the top five ancestries nominated were:

  • English (2,978 people or 43.8%)
  • Australian (2,667 people or 39.2%)
  • Scottish (902 people or 13.3%)
  • Irish (774 people or 11.4%)
  • Italian (457 people or 6.7%)

In combination these five ancestries account for 7,778 responses in total, or 114.28% of all responses.

The major differences between the ancestries of the population in Wonthaggi - Cape Paterson and Bass Coast Shire were:

  • A larger percentage of people with Italian ancestry (6.7% compared to 4.9%)
  • A larger percentage of people with Australian ancestry (39.2% compared to 38.1%)
  • A smaller percentage of people with Irish ancestry (11.4% compared to 12.6%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the reported ancestries of the population in this area between 2016 and 2021 were:

  • English (+353 persons)
  • Australian (+152 persons)
  • Scottish (+144 persons)
  • Australian Aboriginal (+110 persons)

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