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The Australian way of life is claimed to be a celebration of sporting rather than intellectual achievement. The influence of sport for contemporary Australians is examined by asking a nationally representative sample of Australian adults to identify their most 'influential' sporting heroes. Men are far more likely than women to view male sporting heroes as influential with a similar pattern apparent for Liberal/National Party identifiers over other party supporters, although younger people are less likely than their older counterparts to nominate male sports stars. Cricket legend Donald Bradman's iconic status transcends sport, signifying conservative, white, masculine elements of national identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A national survey of Australian adults shows higher levels of obesity among public housing tenants and home owners with a mortgage compared to outright home owners. These results are to an extent due to higher instances of illness and disability among public housing tenants, and are also associated with known health risk factors. Yet differences in body mass index between tenures persist after controlling for a range of risk factors and socio-demographic indicators, suggesting the presence of cultural differences and different consumption patterns. Public tenants are by far the most likely to smoke on a daily basis, with private renters and home owners with a mortgage also more likely to be smokers than are outright home owners. Further investigation is required to establish the nature and extent that patterned health inequalities and associated risk factors are linked to housing tenure. If Australian mortgagees are more likely than outright homeowners to be obese, as our findings indicate, pursuing the ‘Australian dream’ of home-ownership may contain a hidden cost to one's health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aspects of the national narrative of an advanced industrialised nation are examined in this research. Nationally representative survey data suggest the most important collective figures for Australian identity are the Anzacs, colonial free settlers and post-Second World War immigrants, while sporting heroes have a negligible influence upon what it means to be Australian. Although many Australians have ancestors who were transported, the convict ‘stain’ persists, while indigenous people are also under-represented in Australian identity myths. The most important individual Australians are not the heroes, saints or sages of an earlier ‘golden era’ nor contemporary sporting heroes, but political leaders, medical doctors and scientists who have (had) actual rather than mythical influence upon the everyday lives of Australians. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Be they highwaymen, bandits or bushrangers, outlaws are mythical figures celebrated across a variety of cultures. Australians' knowledge of colonial outlaws is examined by asking a national sample of adults if they could name four 'bushrangers'. A large majority identified Ned Kelly and a substantial proportion Ben Hall, although less than a quarter could name four bushrangers and one in five were unable to name any bushrangers at all. Australian-born, middle-class, middle-aged, politically informed people who live in Queensland or NSW were the most knowledgeable, with the educational achievement findings suggesting that bushrangers occupy the realm of 'middle-brow' taste. Ned Kelly is confirmed as Australia's best-known colonial figure and folk hero. Immortalized in Sidney Nolan's paintings and mythologized in various cultural milieux, Kelly has transcended bushranging to symbolize a romantic and rebellious aspect of Australian identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1988 Bicentennial and the 2001 centenary of federation celebrations colonial images have flourished in Australia, highlighting the roles of convicts and free settlers during early colonization. Old sites, such as Port Arthur have been re-invigorated, and in 2004 Tasmanians celebrated the bicentenary of ‘white’ settlement. However, social scientists have given little attention to the role of colonial and post-colonial figures and myths as aspects of Australian national identity. We seek to address this issue by examining how convicts, free settlers, bushrangers and ANZACs are associated with contemporary identity in Australia. 2 We examine evidence from the 2003 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes and find that historical figures such as the ANZACs and post-World War II immigrants comprise important aspects of national identity. A substantial majority of Australians judged ANZACs to be important, countering recent claims of the ‘demise of the digger’. Sporting heroes are also at the core of Australian identity. Colonial figures appear to be far less important, although views on national identity vary according to social location. In particular, left-wing, university educated, younger, postmaterialist Australians view convicts and bushrangers as relatively important, indicating the salience of the larrikin in Australian identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]