The United Kingdom-born Community
Historical background
The British Government initiated European settlement of the Australian continent by establishing a penal settlement at Sydney Cove in 1788. Between then and 1852, about 100 000 convicts (mostly tried in England) were transported to eastern Australia, Scotland and Wales contributed relatively few convicts.
The convicts were augmented by free settlers, including large numbers who arrived during the gold-rush in the 1850s. As late as 1861, people born in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland outnumbered even the Australia-born population.
The number of settlers in Australia who were born in the United Kingdom peaked at 825 000 in 1891, from which point the proportion of British among all immigrants to Australia steadily declined.
Following the war, the Australian Government entered into agreements with the British Government to provide free and assisted passages to British ex-servicemen, selected civilians and their dependants. Schemes to encourage British migration included the 'Bring Out a Briton' campaign launched in 1957, under which employers and organisations were encouraged to sponsor particular families and assist in their settlement.
Between 1947 and 1973, immigrants from the United Kingdom constituted 41 per cent of Australia's total immigration intake of more than 2.5 million.
The results of a question on ancestry in the 1986 Census suggested that some 77 per cent of Australia's population at that time identified themselves as Anglo-Celtic. Despite the gradual withdrawal of government assistance to new settlers, the post-war immigration program had the effect of pushing the UK-born population in Australia to 1 107 119 in 1991 or 30 per cent of the total overseas-born population.
There were 1 036 440 United Kingdom-born people in Australia at the 2001 Census, making up 25.2 per cent of the overseas-born population and 5.5 per cent of the total Australian population.
Today
Geographic distribution
The latest Census in 2006 recorded 1 038 160 United kingdom-born people in Australia which is similar to the 2001 Census. The 2006 distribution by state and territory showed New South Wales had the largest number with 265 860 followed by Western Australia (208 380), Victoria (204 850) and Queensland (193 060).
Age and sex
The median age of the United Kingdom-born in 2006 was 53.7 years compared with 46.8 years for all overseas-born and 37.1 years for the total Australian population. The age distribution showed 3.8 per cent were aged 0-14 years, 3.5 per cent were 15-24 years, 25.7 per cent were 25-44 years, 40.7 per cent were 45-64 years and 26.4 per cent were 65 and over.
Of the United Kingdom-born in Australia, there were 520 610 males (50.1 per cent) and 517 550 females (49.9 per cent). The sex ratio was 100.6 males per 100 females.
Ancestry
In the 2006 Census, the top three ancestry responses* that United Kingdom-born people reported were, English (816 410), Scottish (164 600) and Irish (88 220).
In the 2006 Census, Australians reported more than 250 different Ancestries. From the total ancestry responses*, 31.1 per cent responded as having a British ancestry.
*At the 2006 Census up to two responses per person were allowed for the Ancestry question; therefore providing the total responses and not persons count.
Language
The main languages spoken at home by United Kingdom-born people in Australia were English (98.0 per cent), Not Stated (0.8 per cent) and French (0.1 per cent).
Of the 14 710 United Kingdom-born who spoke a language other than English at home, 94.8 per cent spoke English very well or well and 3.5 per cent spoke English not well or not at all.
Religion
At the 2006 Census the major religious affiliations amongst United Kingdom-born were Anglican (432 090 persons), No Religion (223 570 persons) and Catholic (130 700 persons).
Of the United Kingdom-born, 21.5 per cent stated 'No Religion', this was higher than that of the total Australian population (18.7 per cent). 6.9 per cent of the United Kingdom-born did not state a religion.
Arrival
Compared to 67.9 per cent of the total overseas-born population, 80.2 per cent of the United Kingdom-born people in Australia arrived in Australia prior to 1996.
Among the total United Kingdom-born in Australia at the 2006 Census, 4.9 per cent arrived between 1996 and 2000 and 10.1 per cent arrived during 2001 and 2006.
Citizenship
At the 2006 Census, the estimated rate of Australian Citizenship for the United Kingdom-born in Australia was 70.2 per cent. The estimated rate for all overseas-born was 75.6 per cent. This rate includes adjustments for people not meeting the residential requirement for citizenship, temporary entrants to Australia and underenumeration at the Census.
Median income
At the time of the 2006 Census, the median individual weekly income for the United Kingdom-born in Australia aged 15 years and over was $506, compared with $431 for all overseas-born and $488 for all Australia-born. The total Australian population had a median individual weekly income of $466.
Qualifications
At the 2006 Census, 56.8 per cent of the United Kingdom-born aged 15 years and over had some form of higher non school qualifications compared to 52.5 per cent of the Australian population. Among the United Kingdom-born, 26.8 per cent had Diploma level or higher* qualifications and 20.3 per cent had Certificate level qualifications. From the United Kingdom-born, 421 270 had no higher non school qualification, of which 5.4 per cent were still attending an educational institution.
* Diploma level or higher qualification includes Degree level or higher, Advanced Diploma and Diploma level.
Employment
Among United Kingdom-born people aged 15 years and over, the participation rate in the labour force was 58.8 per cent and the unemployment rate was 3.9 per cent. The corresponding rates in the total Australian population were 64.6 and 5.2 per cent respectively.
Of the 554 570 United Kingdom-born who were employed, 34.9 per cent were employed in a Skill Level 1 occupation, 12.0 per cent in Skill Level 2 and 14.9 per cent in Skill Level 3. The corresponding rates in the total Australian population were 28.7, 10.7 and 15.1 per cent respectively.
Jointly produced by Multicultural Affairs Branch and the Program Statistics and Monitoring Section of the department. All data used in this summary is sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing. Sources for the Historical Background available at Community Information Summaries: Bibliography
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