Rapid rise of Indian born in Australia: Census

Almost a quarter of all overseas arrivals to Australia since 2016 have come from India, an analysis of Census cultural diversity data reveals.

Punjabi is the fastest growing foreign language in households across the country.

Almost a quarter of all overseas arrivals to Australia since 2016 have come from India, by far the fastest growing nationality, an analysis of Census cultural diversity data reveals.

As the proportion of overseas born in Australia heads rapidly toward 30 per cent of the total population, India has overtaken China and New Zealand in the last five years to sit only behind England on the list of countries of birth of those born overseas.

Just over 7 million people were born overseas when the census was taken in August 2021, the Australian Bureau of Statistics report Cultural Diversity of Australia says.

India had 673,000, compared to China at 550,000 and New Zealand at 530,000. England had 927,000.

At the previous census in 2016 New Zealand had 5180,00, China 510,000 and India 455,000.

Punjabi was the fastest growing foreign language in households across the country, with 107,000 more speakers in 2021 than in 2016, an increase of 80.4, the data reveals.

Overall 5.8 million people, or 23 per cent of the population, used a language other than English at home, with Mandarin the most common, followed by Arabic and Vietnamese. This was an increase from 4.8 million people or 20.6 per cent in 2016.

Overall 5.8 million people, or 23 per cent of the population, used a language other than English at home, with Mandarin the most common. Picture: Aaron Francis

The census data reveals the changing nature of Australia’s cultural diversity over the last century, with the UK dominating incoming numbers in the pre-WWII era, a post-war boom in migrants from Europe, then the rise of Chinese and Vietnamese migrants and now people from India making up a larger proportion of the total.

In the first census in 1911 the total proportion of people in Australia born overseas was 18 per cent, “From 1911 to 1947 (it) dropped to a low of 9.8 per cent as migration was impacted by two World Wars and two major economic depressions,” the report says.

“From 1947, the proportion of overseas born counted in the Census increased because of the post-war migration program, which included intakes of displaced persons and refugees from European countries.

“Since 2006, the proportion of people who were born overseas has increased more sharply, influenced by changes to Australia’s immigration policy including an increase in the intake of skilled migrants,” it says.

While the overall overseas born population is just under 30 per cent of the total, there are pockets of Australia with much higher proportions.

Auburn in NSW has 62 per cent overseas born, the highest statistical area in the country, with Dandenong in Victoria second at 56 per cent. Fairfield and Parramatta in Sydney had the next highest proportions.

“It is the suite of cultural diversity questions in the Census, such as ancestry, country of birth, English proficiency, languages spoken, citizenship status, year of arrival and religious affiliation, which allows us to better understand the increasing complexity and growing cultural diversity in Australia,” census general manager Duncan Young said.

The flow on effect of population inflows can be seen in people identifying as second generation migrants.

 

While the number of Italian-born peaked at 290,000 in 1971 and now sits at 163,000, the number of second generation Australians with one or both parents born in Italy increased from 322,000 in 2016 to 347,000 in 2021.

“The number of Australians reporting an Italian ancestry also increased from 1 million in 2016 to over 1.1 million in 2021, making Italian the seventh largest ancestry in Australia,” the report says.