Fifty years ago, Canberra was younger and more European than it is today. More Canberra residents were men and had a religious faith, but fewer were tying the knot.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
In 1966, the trendy 30-year-old public servants of today were outnumbered by babies. There were proportionally more stand-alone homes too.
Unlike in 2016, there were more men than women; men made up 52 per cent of the population, women 47.9 per cent.
Today women and men make up 50.7 per cent and 49.3 per cent of the population, respectively.
In 1966, only 3.5 per cent of the ACT identified as non-religious, compared with 36.2 per cent in 2016. Canberrans identified more as Catholic, with 32.6 per cent identifying as either Catholic or Roman Catholic in 1966.
In 2016, 48.1 per cent of Canberrans were married. That's dropped to 43 per cent in 1966.
The proportion of Canberra residents born in Australia has dropped, with 73.5 per cent of the population born down under in 1966, compared to 68 per cent in 2016.
The other top countries of birth in 2016 were England (3.2 per cent), China (2.9 per cent), India (2.6 per cent), New Zealand (1.2 per cent) and the Philippines (1 per cent).
But in 1966, people born in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom made up 10.2 per cent of the ACT's population.
Those born in New Zealand, China or India made up less than 1 per cent. It's worth noting the 1966 census counted Indians, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans in the same bracket.
German-born Canberrans in 1966 made up 2.1 per cent of the population, followed by those born in Italy (2 per cent), the Netherlands (1.5 per cent). In 2016, those nationalities separately made up less than one per cent of ACT's population.
Canberra was even younger than it is today. Whilst 12.6 per cent of the population today is 65 or older, they only made up 2.9 per cent of Canberra's population in 1966.
In 1966, a third of Canberra's residents were under 14 years old, at 33.1 per cent, compared to 18.7 per cent today.
The largest age demographic in the ACT today is those aged 30-34, making up 8.5 per cent of the population, compared to 7.3 per cent in 1966. In 1966, they were outnumbered by babies; Canberrans aged 0-4 years old made up the largest five-year age demographic at 12 per cent.
In 2016, 67 per cent of private dwellings were houses. But in 1966 that figure was 84.1 per cent.
