2nd July, 2007

They’re 37-years-old, speak English at home and most likely to be living in a couple with children family. If they’re a woman, they’ve given birth to two children.

Such is the picture of the average Australian that was painted in the 2006 Census, details of which were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics late last month.

The Census found that there were 100 females for every 97 males in the country with males , at 36-years-old, recording a slightly lower average age than females, at 37-years-old. The overall median age of 37-years-old was three years older than that recorded in 1996.

It also found that 46 per cent of Australians live in a “couple family with children” with the median age of first time mothers coming in at 29-years-old. Of the couple families, 69 per cent had children under 15-years-old.

Australians aged over 15 years recorded a median gross personal income of $400 to $599 a week, with men recording a median income of between $600-$799, double that of women - $250-399.

English is the only language spoken at home for 78 per cent of people, down from 82 per cent in 1996 with Italian and Greek the most popular other languages.

~ www.abs.gov.au

- DAVID ADAMS