SYDNEY (AFP) - Australians who sound like crocodile hunter Steve Irwin or Crocodile Dundee actor Paul Hogan could soon be a relic of the past, a report said on Sunday.

Research shows the nasal Australian twang -- exemplified by the late Irwin and the character Mick 'Crocodile' Dundee -- will be phased out within a few decades as the nation shakes loose its colonial roots and moves towards a standard national pronunciation, The Sunday Telegraph said.

"Australians are becoming more confident with the standard Australian accent -- and that means there's no longer the need for those sorts of extreme sounds," lexicographer Moore said.

Moore said the broad accents came from the need for cultural distinction in the late 19th century while the posh accents evolved from the use of what is commonly known as Queen's English in education in the late 1800s.