Jackman was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, the youngest of five children of English-born Anglican parents. His mother left the family and went back to England when he was eight years old, and he remained behind with his father (an accountant with a degree from Cambridge), and his siblings. Jackman attended Knox Grammar School, an all-boys school in Wahroonga, New South Wales and graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney with a BA in Communications, having majored in journalism. Jackman's introduction to acting was by accident, as he had to take an acting class as part of the requirements for a college diploma. He became interested in the craft and used some money inherited from a relative to attend the WAAPA of Edith Cowan University in Perth, from which he graduated in 1994.