The average Australian

The Basics

1. Rebecca is 38 years old and married. (If she were male, she’d be called Matthew, but there are actually slightly more women in Australia than men).
2. She has a son named Jack and a daughter named Emily or Olivia, aged four and 17.
3. Rebecca gives her kids $9.30 in pocket money every week.
4. She lives in a detached 3-bedroom house in Toowoomba, Queensland, in postcode 4350.
5. Rebecca works 40 hours a week in a hospital or sales to earn $1,545, or just over $80,000 a year before tax.
6. She completed year 12 in school, but did not pursue tertiary education.
7. Rebecca has a mortgage of $377,600, paying $2,052 per month and is either Catholic or non-religious, and a total household net worth of $809,900.
8. She has an outstanding balance of $3,192 on her credit card, $1,971 of which is accruing interest.
9. She buys $465 worth of goods using her debit card each month in 34 separate purchases.
10. Rebecca owns a 10-year old Toyota Corolla with an outstanding $4,800 car loan, and an android-based mobile phone.
11. She has $43,880 in superannuation and $45,100 in the household bank including savings.
12. Rebecca’s household owns $24,200 in shares.
13. Rebecca has $3,100 of student debt.
14. Holidayed in New Zealand in 2015 and owns a copy of Meat Loaf’s “Bat out of Hell”.
15. Spent $119 on their partner on Valentine’s day.
16. Is planning on saving $182 per week in 2016 and hoping to pay for a holiday.
17. Spent $572 on Christmas gifts in 2015, $285 of which was on credit card.
18. Has made a new year’s resolution to improve their health in 2016, but did not keep their resolution last year.
19. Rebecca will eat 2.5 195 gram chocolate eggs this Easter.
    1. This is well behind the UK (5.6 eggs per person) and slightly more than the US (2.4 eggs per person).

Methodology

This study is meant for illustrative purposes only. In most cases, figures used were based on population averages - however in some situations this was not possible. In these cases, the most popular or populated item was used. Examples of this include the 4350 postcode being the most populated, and the Toyota Corolla being the most numerous car in Australia. Some figures were rounded.

Sources

1. _{Age calculated using Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. Names based on the most popular baby names in Victoria at year of birth. Married status based on data from the 2011 Census of Population and Housing.}
2. _{Names used based on the most popular baby names in Victoria at year of birth. Kids ages deduced via under-18 age distribution based on data from the 2011 Census of Population and Housing. Number of kids based on rounding of ABS stated average children per family of 1.9.}
3. _{Based on a finder.com.au survey of over 1,000 Australia parents.}
4. _{Most common house type and number of bedrooms sourced using from the 2011 Census of Population and Housing. Most populous postcode found using the same data.}
5. _{Average hours worked per week sourced using data from the 2011 Census of Population and Housing.Average weekly earnings sourced from ABS.}
6. _{Education data sourced from ABS Education and Work, Australia, May 2015.}
7. _{Religion based on data from the 2011 Census of Population and Housing.Mortgage data sourced from ABS Housing Finance data. Mortgage repayments calculated by finder.com.au based on current average market variable interest rates on 5.11% over 30 years. Net worth found using data from ABS Household Income and Wealth, Australia, 2013–14.}
8. _{Credit card statistics calculated using Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) data Credit and Charge Card Statistics, Table C1.}
9. _{Debit card statistics calculated using Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) data Credit and Charge Card Statistics, Table C5.}
10. _{Car model data sourced from the ABS Motor Vehicle Census. Mobile data sourced from the Australian Communications and Media Authority and Kantar Worldpanel.}
11. _{Superannuation calculated from ABS Gender Indicators, Australia, Jan 2013 - Superannuation. Funds on deposit calculated from the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) Monthly Banking Statistics.}
12. _{Household shares found using data from ABS Household Income and Wealth, Australia, 2013–14.}
13. _{Student debt found using data from ABS Household Income and Wealth, Australia, 2013–14.}
14. _{Holiday destination sourced from ABS Arrivals and Departures. Most popular album sourced from the Australian Recording Industry Association.}
15. _{Based on a finder.co.au survey of 1,013 Australians conducted in January 2016.}
16. _{Based on a finder.co.au survey of 1,013 Australians conducted in January 2016.}
17. _{Based on a finder.co.au survey of 1,013 Australians conducted in January 2016.}
18. _{Based on a finder.co.au survey of 1,059 Australians conducted in December 2015.}
19. _{Sourced from Barry Callebaut and Statista. Presuming 10% of annual consumption at Easter (480g).}