The latest Census in 2001 recorded 22,770 Hungary-born persons in Australia, a decrease of 10 per cent from the 1996 Census. The 2001 distribution by State and Territory showed New South Wales had the largest number with 8,680 followed by Victoria (6,960), Queensland (3,020) and South Australia (1,940).

Age and sex

The median age of the Hungary-born in 2001 was 62.2 years compared with 46.0 years for all overseas-born and 35.6 years for the total Australian population. The age distribution showed 1.0 per cent were aged 0-14 years, 3.0 per cent were 15-24 years, 11.1 per cent were 25-44 years, 42.4 per cent were 45-64 years and 42.5 per cent were 65 and over.

Of the Hungary-born in Australia, there were 11,920 males (52.3 per cent) and 10,850 females (47.7 per cent). The sex ratio was 109.8 males per 100 females.

Qualifications

In 2001, of Hungary-born people aged 15 years and over, 59.8 per cent held some form of educational or occupational qualification compared with 46.2 per cent for all Australians. Among the Hungary-born, 20.1 per cent had higher qualifications* and 23.4 per cent had Certificate level qualifications. Of the Hungary-born with no qualifications, 4.8 per cent were still attending an educational institution.

* Higher qualification includes Postgraduate Degree, Graduate Diploma & Graduate Certificate and Bachelor Degree Advanced Diploma & Diploma Level.

Employment

Among Hungary-born people aged 15 years and over, the participation rate in the labour force was 41.4 per cent and the unemployment rate was 7.8 per cent. The corresponding rates in the total Australian population were 63.0 and 7.4 per cent respectively.

Of the 8,300 Hungary-born who were employed, 61.6 per cent were employed in a Skilled occupation, 23.6 per cent in Semi-Skilled and 14.9 per cent in Unskilled. The corresponding rates in the total Australian population were 52.6, 28.9 and 18.6 per cent respectively.

Citizenship

At the 2001 Census, the rate* of Australian Citizenship for the Hungary-born in Australia was 97.1 per cent. The rate for all overseas-born was 75.1 per cent.

* Includes adjustments for people not meeting the residential requirement for citizenship, temporary entrants to Australia and underenumeration at the Census.

Language

The main languages spoken at home by Hungary-born people in Australia were Hungarian (59.2 per cent), English (35.1 per cent), and German (2.0 per cent).

Of the 14,700 Hungary-born who spoke a language other than English at home, 85.6 per cent spoke English very well or well and 13.2 per cent spoke English not well or not at all.

Religion

At the 2001 Census the major religions amongst Hungary-born were Western Catholic (12,900 persons), Judaism (1,730 persons) and Presbyterian And Reformed (1,460 persons).

Of the Hungary-born, 9.7 per cent stated 'No Religion'. This was lower than that of the total Australian population (15.5 per cent)

Ancestry

In the 2001 Census, the top three ancestries that Hungary-born persons reported were, Hungarian (19,580), Hungarian-German (360) and German (300).