Australia, it’s time to look good.
The first results of the 2021 census will be announced at midnight tonight and there are many things we will learn.
In 2016 we were 23,401,892 when the “first digital” questionnaire was a #censusfail.
Things went much better when we filled another one on August 10, 2021, although things were a bit messy.
New South Wales and Victoria were closed, the iron ore curtain of Western Australia was raised and the international border had been closed for 17 months.
The 2021 census data will give us a clear picture of how far the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our way of living, working and playing as a nation.
While we’re waiting for the numbers to go down, take a look at the latest snapshot.
The “typical” Australian
In 2016, the typical Australian was a mother of two, married for 38 years, born in Australia and of English descent.
He lived in a capital city in a three-bedroom house he owned, had two cars, earned $ 662 a week, and had finished in the year 12.
This fictitious profile was based on mode data, that is, it showed which was the best result in each category.
While this kind of information is interesting, it doesn’t paint the full picture of Australia’s diversity.
For example, Australia’s population was mostly middle-aged in 2016, with one in six people aged 65 and over.
Most of the growth of younger age groups in 2016 was driven by migration from Asia.
What we believe in
One-third of Australians said they “had no religion” in the 2016 census.
More than half of Australians identified as Christians. However, there has been a major shift away from Christianity in Australia over the last 50 years.
The next largest religions were Islam (2.6%), Buddhism (2.4%) and Hinduism (1.9%).
Where we were from
In 2016, about half of Australians were born abroad or had at least one father who was born abroad.
The top five countries of birth, apart from Australia, were England, New Zealand, China, India and the Philippines.
China and India were the main sources of migration to Australia.
Historically, country of birth and home language have been the main indicators of diversity used by Australian government agencies.
The 2016 and 2021 censuses allowed two answers to the question of ancestry.
Ethnic groups have raised concerns that have not been counted, but the ABS is looking to capture more ethnic data in the 2026 census.
The top five ascendants in 2016 were English, Australian, Irish, Scottish and Chinese.
Where were we going
The ACT was the fastest growing jurisdiction in the country in 2016, while Darwin was the fastest growing city.
Two-thirds of us live in capital cities, but that number could drop to 2021 figures due to people moving to regional areas during the pandemic.
Australia’s closed borders, both nationally and internationally, will have disrupted any trend that could predict new results.
Not only were people unable to move to states such as WA, but migration, which was the main driver of population growth, came to a halt almost due to the closure of Australia’s international border in March 2020.
How we got there
The car was king in 2016, with 77.6% of Australians getting behind the wheel or in the passenger seat to get to work.
Trains or trams carried 9.1% of passengers and 4.1% of people went by bus, slightly more than those who walked.
This year will look very different, most Australians will travel a few meters to sign up to work in 2021.
Nearly 3 million homes had two vehicles in 2016, another statistic that could change due to outages and supply chain downsizing.
What else is in the new census data?
Key population data from the 2021 census will be released on June 28th.
- Aboriginal and island people of the Torres Strait
- Cultural diversity
- Disability and caregivers
- Education and formation
- Long-term health conditions
- The home and families
- Housing
- Income and work
- Location
- Service with the Australian Defense Force
- Transport
- Unpaid work and care
More information on topics such as employment and location-based data will be published in October 2022.
The final batch of complex data, including distance to work and socioeconomic indices, will be published in early and mid-2023.