The lop-sided gender balance of Tony Abbott's cabinet has caused a stir. But how does it compare with the Australian population on other major demographic characteristics such as age, religion, schooling and occupation?

The line-up might be blokey but it's not full of WASPs - the white Anglo-Saxon Protestants so often accused of having disproportionate social and financial power. That's because of the Catholic contingent. Those with a Catholic background account for nearly half of Mr Abbott's cabinet, roughly double the 25 per cent of Australians who described themselves as Catholics at the last census.

How the other half live.

Author Roy Williams, who has written about religion in Australian politics, says this marks an extraordinary departure, especially for the Liberal Party, which has traditionally "been a party of mainstream Protestantism".

"It is the exact reverse of past Liberal Party cabinets," he said.