Dipti Ray and his family moved permanently to Australia from India in 2020.
Key points:
- 2021 census data show that almost half of all Australians have a father born abroad
- India has overtaken China and New Zealand to become the third country of birth, behind Australia and England
- Mandarin is still the most common language other than English used at home
The 36-year-old spent some time in the country to work a decade ago, but did not imagine that this would be where she would end up.
“I went back to India because my family and everyone was there … I never thought about going back to Australia,” Mrs Ray told ABC.
“But especially after having a child, we thought we would have better opportunities here.”
Although the move during COVID brought with it challenges, Mrs Ray, her husband and four-year-old son are happy in Glen Waverley, east Melbourne.
Dipti Ray says he speaks to his son in Hindi and makes sure he interacts with the Indian community. (Supplied)
The Ray family is part of a growing Indian community in Australia.
Nearly 220,000 additional people reported being born in India in the last census, compared to when the previous census was conducted in 2016, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released today.
This caused India to overtake China and New Zealand to become the third country of birth, behind Australia and England.
And in total, more than 1 million people have emigrated to Australia since the 2016 census.
Ms Ray says there is a large Indian community with which her family connects for cultural activities, but she has also seen wider recognition of India’s traditional celebrations.
“There’s a lot of exposure to these festivals; I know Diwali is an important thing,” he said.
“So it’s not just the Indian community, but also the Australian community that’s starting these festivals and celebrations.”
The census, a national household questionnaire conducted every five years, took place in August last year amid the worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The data revealed that almost half of all Australians (48.2%) had a father born abroad, and more than a quarter were born abroad themselves.
In comparison, 45.5% of Australians had at least one father born abroad in 2016.
Australians were also asked to report up to two ‘ancestry’, regardless of the country of birth question.
English continued to be the most common ancestry (33%), followed by Australian (29.9%), Irish (9.5%), Scottish (8.6%) and Chinese. (5.5%).
The Nepalese community is doubling down
Another notable migratory trend was the growth of the Nepalese population, which doubled since the previous census.
Nepal had the second largest increase in the country of birth, with 67,752 more people counted.
Pranab Shrestha tries to speak Nepali to his daughters at home and maintain cultural traditions. (Supplied) (Supplied)
Pranab Shrestha came to Australia in 2014 to finish his master’s degree in engineering.
He ended up staying with a qualified migrant visa.
“I had plans to return to my home country, but our family business there was not working,” Shrestha told ABC.
“So I felt it was better to stay for our job opportunities and options for a more comfortable life.”
The latest figures from the Department of the Interior show that, since 2017, most Nepalese migrants are entering the country with visas from qualified partners and visas for the state and territory.
Pranab Shrestha stayed in Melbourne after finishing her studies and has since had two daughters born in Australia. (Supplied)
Shrestha says there was already a major Nepalese community where he lives in north-west Melbourne, but has recently noticed it growing.
“When we go to the shops or the squares you can hear more people talking in our language,” he said.
The 37-year-old man tries to speak Nepali as much as he can with his two daughters, born in Australia.
They also celebrate their traditional Nepalese customs.
For Mr Shrestha, he was able to move comfortably into life in Australia, saying there were systems to help him along the way.
“You can get a lot of information readily available and it’s enough to guide you, in fact,” he said.
Mandarin is still the most widely spoken language apart from English
Although India surpassed China in becoming the third largest country of birth, Mandarin remains the most common language spoken at home apart from English.
Nearly 700,000 people reported speaking Mandarin at home, followed by Arabic with about 367,000.
Punjabi had the largest increase of 80% since 2016, with just over 367,000 Australians now using the language at home.
The 2021 census data collected information on more than 250 ancestry and 350 languages.
“The information collected in the census provides important data to help plan services and support for culturally and linguistically diverse communities at the local level,” said Australian statistician David Gruen.
“For example, by understanding growing population groups in their area, community groups can provide language services at the local level.”