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MELBOURNE - The great Australian dream is slipping further from reach for the typical Aussie family, which itself is becoming less typical.
Despite a strong rise in household earnings, fewer Australians now own their homes outright and more are paying off a mortgage.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the first round of its 2006 census results today, which show the changing make-up of Australian life since 1996, when John Howard's government came to power.
The typical family still comprises a couple with children, most of whom are aged under 15.
But as a share of the population, those families dropped from 50 per cent in 1996 to 45 per cent last year.
Nine out of 10 families live in a four-bedroom house, for which the majority paid a mortgage last year at a median A$1400 ($1563) per month.
Childless couples accounted in 2006 for 37 per cent of families, up from 34 per cent in 1996.
Single-parent families made up almost 16 per cent, up from 14.5 per cent.
One in eight Australians lived alone, most of them older people.
Household incomes rose to a median A$1000-A$1199, up from A$600-A$699 in 1996 (A$778-A$906 in 2006 dollar terms).
In 2006, 33 per cent of homes were fully owned, down from 41 per cent, and almost one-third were still being purchased, up from one-quarter.
Rented properties accounted for 27 per cent.
Meanwhile, Australia also changed culturally.
The number of overseas-born Australians increased from 3.9 million in 1996 to 4.4 million, though as a share of the population they remained at 22 per cent.
China overtook Italy as the third-largest birthplace group, after England and New Zealand.
The number of Australians who speak Mandarin at home grew by almost 139 per cent to 220,600, and the number of Cantonese speakers grew by more than 20 per cent to 244,600.
The number of followers of Hinduism has more than doubled since 1996 and they now make up 0.7 per cent of the population.
Followers of Buddhism also doubled to more than two per cent of the population.
Islam accounts for 1.7 per cent and Judaism 0.4 per cent.
Christianity remains the dominant religion. It grew slightly, from 12.6 million followers to 12.7 million but fell as a proportion of the population from 71 per cent to 64 per cent.
Almost 19 per cent of Australians said they had no religion.
Australians claim more than 250 ancestries, from 7.4 million people who said their ancestry was "Australian" to 32 people who claimed Masai descent.
New census questions revealed just over 37 per cent of Australians questioned last August had broadband internet, while about 20 per cent had dial-up.
In the home, the average Australian woman does between five and 14 hours of domestic work per week, compared to the average man, who does less than five hours per week.
One in 25 Australians needs daily help with basic activities such as self-care, moving around or communicating.
Almost one in five Australians performed voluntary work in a year.
Australia's median age rose from 34 to 37 years in 2006 and the share of the population aged 65 and over increased from 12.1 per cent to 13.3 per cent.
For every 100 women in Australia, there are 97 men.
Marriage is still the norm for couples, although married couples now account for 49.6 per cent of the population, compared to 53.3 per cent in 1996.
The data is based on information gathered on August 8 last year and compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- AAP
