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Byron ShireCommunity profile

The three largest ancestries in Byron Shire in 2021 were English, Australian and Irish.

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 Byron Shire 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 Byron Shire'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
Byron Shire - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Ancestry totalsNumber%Regional NSW %Number%Regional NSW %2016 to 2021
Not stated3,8287.85.23,9859.96.0-157
Total responses48,942----40,376----+8,566
Total people36,114----31,565----+4,549
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
Byron Shire - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
AncestryNumber%Regional NSW %Number%Regional NSW %2016 to 2021
English14,55040.340.912,37339.240.8+2,177
Australian10,82330.040.210,71233.942.5+111
Irish5,51015.311.84,66314.812.3+847
Scottish4,32912.010.73,52711.210.5+802
German2,2116.14.21,7015.44.3+510
Italian1,5164.22.88952.82.6+621
Dutch7062.01.45781.81.3+128
French6901.90.54291.40.5+261
Australian Aboriginal6381.86.1900.30.8+548
Spanish4131.10.42000.60.3+213
Show all (95 entries)

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

Dominant groups

Analysis of the ancestry responses of the population in Byron Shire in 2021 shows that the top five ancestries nominated were:

  • English (14,550 people or 40.3%)
  • Australian (10,823 people or 30.0%)
  • Irish (5,510 people or 15.3%)
  • Scottish (4,329 people or 12.0%)
  • German (2,211 people or 6.1%)

In combination these five ancestries account for 37,423 responses in total, or 103.62% of all responses.

The major differences between the ancestries of the population in Byron Shire and Regional NSW were:

  • A larger percentage of people with Irish ancestry (15.3% compared to 11.8%)
  • A larger percentage of people with German ancestry (6.1% compared to 4.2%)
  • A smaller percentage of people with Australian ancestry (30.0% compared to 40.2%)
  • A smaller percentage of people with Australian Aboriginal ancestry (1.8% compared to 6.1%)

Emerging groups

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

  • English (+2,177 persons)
  • Irish (+847 persons)
  • Scottish (+802 persons)
  • Italian (+621 persons)

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