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City of WhittleseaCommunity profile

The three largest ancestries in Mernda in 2021 were Australian, English and Indian.

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 Mernda 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 Mernda'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
Mernda - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Ancestry totalsNumber%Greater Melbourne %Number%Greater Melbourne %2016 to 2021
Not stated1,1153.34.21,1744.95.0-60
Total responses33,473----23,940----+9,533
Total people26,225----19,298----+6,926
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
Mernda - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
AncestryNumber%Greater Melbourne %Number%Greater Melbourne %2016 to 2021
Australian5,98022.823.44,84125.124.0+1,138
English5,44120.725.64,75724.626.6+684
Indian2,99611.45.31,5908.24.4+1,406
Italian2,80610.76.62,23211.66.7+574
Irish1,4855.78.31,4977.89.1-12
Scottish1,2394.77.11,0895.67.3+149
Greek1,0784.13.58724.53.6+205
Macedonian1,0113.90.97904.10.9+221
Chinese7803.08.35913.17.9+189
Filipino6672.51.73782.01.3+289
Show all (105 entries)

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

Dominant groups

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

  • Australian (5,980 people or 22.8%)
  • English (5,441 people or 20.7%)
  • Indian (2,996 people or 11.4%)
  • Italian (2,806 people or 10.7%)
  • Irish (1,485 people or 5.7%)

In combination these five ancestries account for 18,708 responses in total, or 71.34% of all responses.

The major differences between the ancestries of the population in Mernda and Greater Melbourne were:

  • A larger percentage of people with Indian ancestry (11.4% compared to 5.3%)
  • A larger percentage of people with Italian ancestry (10.7% compared to 6.6%)
  • A smaller percentage of people with Chinese ancestry (3.0% compared to 8.3%)
  • A smaller percentage of people with English ancestry (20.7% compared to 25.6%)

Emerging groups

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

  • Indian (+1,406 persons)
  • Australian (+1,138 persons)
  • English (+684 persons)
  • Italian (+574 persons)

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