The happiest Australians are aged over 76, with a household income between $61,000 and $90,000.
But if you don't fit into those demographics, the often elusive search for happiness can be aided by moving to a rural community, volunteering, getting married, being in a secure job and owning your own home.
The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index, the twice-yearly survey of the nation's health, shows us to be increasingly concerned about the environment, generally happy with the economy and national security, but with concerning levels of reported job insecurity, which affects one in five Australians.
And while women were once noticeably happier than men, the gender gap has closed over the past two years — the result, researchers speculate, of low unemployment, with the wellbeing of men more dependent than women on having a job. The index also reveals the truth in a few hoary chestnuts, such as the inability of money to buy happiness — well, sort of.
Four out of the six happiest groups had household incomes of more than $150,000, but the index found that the very rich were not necessarily happier than the rest of us: money loses its ability to reliably raise wellbeing beyond a household income of $100,000.
Poverty, however, was a recurring factor among the unhappiest Australians.
Altogether, the relationship between money and happiness is relative: a mere $7143 is enough, on average, to raise the happiness of individuals on less than $15,000.
"The real power of money in our happiness is in its ability to help us pursue core things we need in our lives, such as education," said the report's author, Deakin University psychologist Bob Cummins.
Larissa Dubecki