People and communities

Indicators to aid exploration of economic and social differences between males and females, using data from ABS and other official sources.

• 27.6 per cent of the population were born overseas.
• 61,860 international visitors were in Australia during the Census collection period. 
• Top 5 languages used at home, other than English, were Mandarin (2.7 per cent), Arabic (1.4 per cent), Vietnamese (1.3 per cent), Cantonese (1.2 per cent) and Punjabi (0.9 per cent). 
• Top 5 ancestries were English (33.0 per cent), Australian (29.9 per cent), Irish (9.5 per cent), Scottish (8.6 per cent) and Chinese (5.5 per cent). 
• Top 5 religious affiliations were No religion (38.9 per cent), Catholic (20 per cent), Anglican (9.8 per cent), Islam (3.2 per cent) and Hinduism (2.7 per cent).

• There were 89,164 couples who married in 2021, well below pre-pandemic marriage numbers.
• Marriages in New South Wales and Victoria were down 31.0% and 34.6% respectively when compared with 2019.
• There were 56,244 divorces granted in 2021.

• New South Wales is home to 31.8 per cent of the national population.
• The Australian Capital Territory had the largest population growth with a 14 per cent increase since 2016.
• Western Australia has a highly urbanised population with almost 80 per cent based in the capital city.
• 9.8 million people (40.7 per cent) moved address since 2016.
• 3.8 million people (15.0 per cent) moved in the year before the 2021 Census.

• More than half a million Australians (581,139) have served, or are currently serving, in the ADF.
• There are 84,865 current serving members and 496,276 former serving members.
• One in twenty (5.3 per cent) of Australian households reported at least one person who had served or is serving in the ADF. 
• 3,159 (3.7 per cent) of currently serving Australian Defence Force members, and 11,610 (2.3 per cent) of previously served, identify as having Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin.

• Around one in four Australians (27%) reported a household member had experienced cold, flu or COVID-19 symptoms in the past 4 weeks (down from 36% in August 2022).
• Fewer Australians reported a household member had a COVID-19 test in the past four weeks (32% compared to 43% in August 2022).
• Of those testing for COVID-19, fewer reported a positive result in September 2022 (13% down from 22% in August 2022).

A picture of the economic, social and cultural make-up of Australia on Census Night, 10 August 2021.

• 2,476,681 people provided unpaid assistance to others with a disability, long-term health condition or due to old age.
• 2,933,646 Australians were doing unpaid voluntary work. This is a 19 per cent decrease from 2016. 
• 27 per cent of both males and females undertake between 5 to 14 hours of unpaid domestic work per week. 

• Females who participated in unpaid work activities spent on average 4 hours 31 minutes a day, while males spent 3 hours 12 minutes.
• Of those who participated in employment related activities, males spent an hour more a day than females (8 hours 13 minutes compared to 7 hours 12 minutes).
• Female parents who participated in child care, spent 3 hours 34 minutes while male parents spent 2 hours 19 minutes.

• There were 5.5 million (5,552,973) couple families and one million (1,068,268) lone parents.
• There were 2.6 million (2,608,834) couples without children.
• Nearly 25,000 same sex marriages (23,914) were counted in the 2021 Census.  

• 8,747,135 people were married, 2,168,351 people were in a de facto relationship and 7,863,327 people were not married. 

Provides users with links to available summary data on migrants from a wide range of ABS surveys and outputs

Analysis and presentation of data to inform on issues relating to migrants, cultural diversity and migration

Provides data on the social characteristics, wellbeing and social experiences of people in Australia

Data about migrants arriving in the last 10 years including employment outcomes relating to visa type, birth country, education and language skills

• Migrant taxpayers generated $112 billion in total personal income.
• About 91% of total income was employee income ($102 billion).
• Over half (61%) of migrant taxpayers held a skilled visa.
• Skilled migrants generated 72% of the total income earned by migrants.

• 82.4% of those aged 15 and over went to at least one cultural venue or event;
• while 66.8% went to a cinema or drive-in at least once.
• 94.3% of children aged 5-14 attended at least one cultural venue or event;
• while 87.7% went to a cinema or drive-in at least once.

• Persons aged 15 and over had a cultural participation rate of 31.4%.
• 90.3% of children aged 5 to 14 participated in screen based activities.
• 78.5% of children aged 5 to 14 participated in reading for pleasure.

• On Census Night 2016, there were 1,635,503 temporary entrants.
• Of the 1.5 million temporary residents, over half were male (53%).
• 81% of temporary residents lived in capital cities.
• 68% of temporary residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force.

Social and economic characteristics of permanent migrants using Census data for people that migrated to Australia under different entry conditions

The 2014 GSS user guide provides detailed information about the survey content, methodology, data processing, data quality and dissemination

Families, household and family characteristics, relationship history and expectations, fertility expectations, family formation and dissolution data

The National Centre for Culture and Recreation Statistics (NCCRS), through the 'Perspectives on Sport' series, provides insights on a range of topics

Participation of children aged 5-14 years in cultural, sporting and other leisure activities plus children’s internet and mobile phones use

Examines the nature of the differences in volunteering rates from the 2006 Census of Population and Housing and the 2006 General Social Survey (GSS)