idc-logo
svg rectangle color
RDA Northern TerritoryCommunity profile

RDA Northern Territory

Ancestry

reset

The three largest ancestries in the RDA Northern Territory in 2021 were Australian Aboriginal, Australian and English.

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 the RDA Northern Territory 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 the RDA Northern Territory'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
RDA Northern Territory - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Ancestry totalsNumber%MacDonnell Regional Council LGA %Number%MacDonnell Regional Council LGA %2016 to 2021
Not stated23,3328.216.329,40011.231.8-6,068
Total responses284,328----263,313----+21,015
Total people232,604----228,826----+3,778
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
RDA Northern Territory - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
AncestryNumber%MacDonnell Regional Council LGA %Number%MacDonnell Regional Council LGA %2016 to 2021
Australian Aboriginal57,08624.574.637,56216.458.7+19,524
Australian56,04624.14.465,43328.69.0-9,387
English53,82523.14.354,96724.05.0-1,142
Irish16,9247.31.518,4698.12.1-1,545
Scottish14,6306.31.514,9716.51.2-341
German8,3413.61.08,7373.80.8-396
Filipino8,2503.50.36,9513.00.0+1,299
Chinese6,9353.00.16,2312.70.1+704
Indian5,1962.20.14,5332.00.1+663
Italian4,3931.90.44,1481.80.4+245
Show all (127 entries)

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

Dominant groups

Analysis of the ancestry responses of the population in RDA Northern Territory in 2021 shows that the top five ancestries nominated were:

  • Australian Aboriginal (57,086 people or 24.5%)
  • Australian (56,046 people or 24.1%)
  • English (53,825 people or 23.1%)
  • Irish (16,924 people or 7.3%)
  • Scottish (14,630 people or 6.3%)

In combination these five ancestries account for 198,511 responses in total, or 85.34% of all responses.

The major differences between the ancestries of the population in the RDA Northern Territory and MacDonnell Regional Council LGA were:

  • A larger percentage of people with Australian ancestry (24.1% compared to 4.4%)
  • A larger percentage of people with English ancestry (23.1% compared to 4.3%)
  • A larger percentage of people with Irish ancestry (7.3% compared to 1.5%)
  • A smaller percentage of people with Australian Aboriginal ancestry (24.5% compared to 74.6%)

Emerging groups

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

  • Australian Aboriginal (+19,524 persons)
  • Australian (-9,387 persons)
  • Nepalese (+1,972 persons)
  • Torres Strait Islander (+1,953 persons)

DISCLAIMER: While all due care has been taken to ensure that the content of this website is accurate and current, there may be errors or omissions in it and no legal responsibility is accepted for the information and opinions in this website.

Please view our Privacy Policy, Terms of use and Legal notices.

ABS Data and the copyright in the ABS Data remains the property of the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The copyright in the way .id has modified, transformed or reconfigured the ABS Data as published on this website remains the property of .id. ABS Data can be accessed from the Australian Bureau of Statistics at www.abs.gov.au. ABS data can be used under license - terms published on ABS website. intermediary.management@abs.gov.au if you have any queries or wish to distribute any ABS data.