Creating nicknames is a great Aussie tradition. Your job might provide your nickname, this is particularly applicable to bushrangers, as in Captain's Moonlight and Starlight, or the aptly named Mad Dog Morgan.
Age plays a major part in determining nicknames.
Old Bill or Young William is examples. This trend becomes popular when the children named after the parents. One of the most common expressions of nicknaming in Australia is the use of the opposites, so if you're tall, you're called stumpy, a red head is bluey, if you have straight hair you're curley. The people of Brisbane have a great tradition in the creation of nicknames and one of their most famous creations was the nickname Deadhead. It came about this way.