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RDA Darling Downs and South West RegionCommunity profile

Southern Downs Regional Council area

Ancestry

The three largest ancestries in Southern Downs Regional Council area 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 Southern Downs Regional Council area 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 Southern Downs Regional Council area'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
Southern Downs Regional Council area - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Ancestry totalsNumber%RDA Darling Downs and South West Region %Number%RDA Darling Downs and South West Region %2016 to 2021
Not stated2,9096.05.52,4245.36.4+485
Total responses48,601----46,005----+2,596
Total people36,282----35,113----+1,169
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
Southern Downs Regional Council area - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
AncestryNumber%RDA Darling Downs and South West Region %Number%RDA Darling Downs and South West Region %2016 to 2021
English14,94741.238.714,42641.138.3+521
Australian14,58140.239.814,84042.342.4-259
Irish4,83313.312.34,93914.113.1-106
Scottish4,14611.410.73,81610.910.5+330
German2,5176.99.42,5777.39.8-60
Australian Aboriginal1,7934.95.81600.50.4+1,633
Italian1,4844.11.81,4804.21.7+4
Dutch4381.21.24741.31.2-36
Filipino3110.91.22200.60.9+91
Chinese2760.81.02700.80.9+6
Show all (70 entries)

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

Dominant groups

Analysis of the ancestry responses of the population in Southern Downs Regional Council area in 2021 shows that the top five ancestries nominated were:

  • English (14,947 people or 41.2%)
  • Australian (14,581 people or 40.2%)
  • Irish (4,833 people or 13.3%)
  • Scottish (4,146 people or 11.4%)
  • German (2,517 people or 6.9%)

In combination these five ancestries account for 41,024 responses in total, or 113.07% of all responses.

The major differences between the ancestries of the population in Southern Downs Regional Council area and the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region were:

  • A larger percentage of people with English ancestry (41.2% compared to 38.7%)
  • A larger percentage of people with Italian ancestry (4.1% compared to 1.8%)
  • A larger percentage of people with Irish ancestry (13.3% compared to 12.3%)
  • A smaller percentage of people with German ancestry (6.9% compared to 9.4%)

Emerging groups

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

  • Australian Aboriginal (+1,633 persons)
  • English (+521 persons)
  • Scottish (+330 persons)
  • Australian (-259 persons)

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