Snapshot of Australia

Based on place of usual residence. Excludes overseas visitors and Other Territories.

The 2021 Census tells us about where we live:

• Almost 80 per cent of Australian residents live in eastern Australia in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.
• NSW continues to be the largest state with over 8 million people, with Victoria not far behind with 6.5 million people.
• ACT had the fastest growth with a 14.4 per cent (57,102 people) increase since 2016.
• 66.9 per cent of people counted were in Greater Capital Cities and 33.1 per cent were in the rest of Australia.
• Greater Sydney remains the largest city in Australia with 5.2 million people, followed by Melbourne with 4.9 million people and Brisbane with 2.5 million people.

Source: Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA).

On Census Night, Tuesday 10 August 2021, many parts of the country were in lockdown or subject to border restrictions. The data has been reviewed with consideration of COVID-19 impacts. 

International border restrictions were in place and the 2021 Census counted 61,860 overseas visitors, significantly less than the 315,531 in 2016.

We can see that lockdown and travel restrictions influenced where people completed the Census:

• Census household response rate increased from 95.1 per cent in 2016 to 96.1 per cent in 2021
• the percentage of households completing online increased to nearly four out of every five forms received (79 per cent)
• more families and households were together on Census Night, and therefore together in the data
• 984,809 people completed their Census form while away from home
• the eastern states saw an increase of people at home, while the Northern Territory and Western Australia had an increase in visitors.

Source: Usual address indicator Census Night (UAICP).

COVID-19 restrictions also impacted where people worked.

• Of the 12 million employed Australians, more than 21.0 per cent (2,531,262) worked from home on Census day.
• People in the eastern seaboard states were more likely to work from home, with 31.0 per cent (1,141,467 people) in New South Wales and 25.7 per cent (814,082 people) in Victoria. In the Northern Territory, 4.2 per cent (4,545 people) worked from home.
• For people living in capital cities, one in four reported working from home compared with one in eight people outside of capital cities.

COVID-19 restrictions impacted hours worked for some people. 6.5 per cent (787,382) of employed people worked zero hours in the week before the 2021 Census, compared to 3.5 per cent (369,189 people) in 2016. Zero hours accounts for people away from work for reasons such as taking leave or unable to work due to lockdown or self-isolation.

Source: Method of travel to work (MTWP), Hours worked (HRSP).

The median age of all Australians remains at 38 years in 2021. Males make up 49.3 per cent of the population with a median age of 37 years and females make up 50.7 per cent with a median age of 39 years.

Australia is undergoing a significant generational shift. Baby Boomers and Millennials each have over 5.4 million people, with only 5,662 more Baby Boomers than Millennials counted on 10 August 2021.

Excludes overseas visitors. 

Source: Age (AGEP).

• Millennials are of working age and are upskilling, representing 40 per cent of people attending vocational education, including TAFE, and 48 per cent of people currently serving in the regular service in the Australian Defence Force.

• Baby Boomers are providing care for other peoples’ children, often their grandchildren. Around one in eight (12.8 per cent) Baby Boomers reported caring for other peoples’ children, and of these, two thirds are female (67.5 per cent). They are also the generation most likely to volunteer and provide unpaid assistance to others.

• Generation Z (10-24 years old) represent 18 per cent of the Australian and 30 per cent of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.

Source: Age (AGEP), Sex (SEXP), Educational institution: attendee status (TYSTAP), Australian Defence Force service (ADFP), Unpaid child care (CHCAREP), Indigenous status (INGP).

The Census found that 812,728 people identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. This is an increase of 25.2 per cent since 2016, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people now representing 3.2 per cent of the Australian population. 

• Of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people counted: 91.4 per cent identified as Aboriginal; 4.2 per cent identified as Torres Strait Islander; 4.4 per cent identified as both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
• Two thirds (515,347) of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population live in New South Wales and Queensland.
• There were 167 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages used at home in 2021 by 76,978 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The most widely reported language groups used were Arnhem Land and Daly River Region Languages (14.5 per cent) and Torres Strait Island Languages (12.0 per cent).

For more information, see Australia: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population summary.

Source: Indigenous status (INGP), Whether reported using an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander language at home (LNGP), Language used at home (LANP).

The Census provides a snapshot of the diversity of cultures and languages that make up Australia.

Australia has a rich mix of cultural backgrounds and heritage, with the number of people living in Australia who were born overseas continuing to increase.

• The proportion of Australian residents that are born overseas (first generation) or have a parent born overseas (second generation) has moved above 50 per cent (51.5 per cent).

• The top five most commonly reported ancestries in the 2021 Census followed previous trends and included English at 33.0 per cent, Australian at 29.9 per cent, Irish at 9.5 per cent, Scottish at 8.6 per cent and Chinese at 5.5 per cent.

Excludes overseas residents, visitors and responses not stated.
First generation refers to people living in Australia who were born overseas.
Second generation refers to people living in Australia who were Australian born with one or both parents born overseas. 
Third+ generation refers to people living in Australia who were Australian born with both parents born in Australia.

Source: Country of birth of person (BPLP), Country of birth of mother (BPFP), Country of birth of father (BPMP), Country of birth of parents (BPPP), Ancestry multi response (ANCP).

Australia continues to be a culturally and linguistically diverse country with the growth of communities from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iraq and the Philippines. 

Excludes overseas visitors. Refers to top five countries of birth where there was a growth of greater 20,000 persons between 2016 and 2021. 

Source: Country of birth of person (BPLP).

The use of languages at home reflects our changing communities:

• Mandarin continues to be the most common language other than English with 685,274 people using Mandarin at home.
• This is followed by Arabic (367,159 people), Vietnamese (320,758 people), and Cantonese (295,281 people).
• Punjabi had the largest increase, with the 2021 Census showing 239,033 people using Punjabi at home.
• Nepali featured in the top five languages used at home in both ACT (1.3 per cent) and Tasmania (1.3 per cent).

Source: Language used at home (LANP).

The diversity of religious affiliation has increased across the Australian population.

• The percentage of Australian’s reporting no religious affiliation continues to grow. It’s now at 38.9 per cent of the population compared to 30.1 per cent in the 2016 Census.
• Christianity remains the most common religion with 43.9 per cent of the population identifying as Christian, a decrease from 52.1 per cent in the 2016 Census. 
• The top 5 religions outside of Christianity are Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Judaism.
• The religion question is voluntary in the Census, yet there was an increase in the proportion of people answering the question, from 91 per cent in 2016 to 93 per cent in 2021.

Source: Religious affiliation (RELP).

The 2021 Census counted more than 10.8 million private dwellings across Australia. The average number of people per household decreased from 2.6 in 2016 to 2.5 in 2021. Census reflects that Australian families come in many shapes and forms. The 2021 Census counted:

• 5.5 million (5,552,973) couple families, of which 53 per cent have children living with them (53.0 per cent) and 47 per cent do not have children living with them (47.0 per cent)
• 2.5 million (2,550,284) families with children under the age of 15 years
• there are more than a million one parent families (1,068,268). As a proportion of families this is increasing slowly, from under 15 per cent (14.5 per cent) in 1996 to nearly 16 per cent (15.9 per cent) in 2021.

Following the 2017 amendments to the Marriage Act 1961, which enabled marriage equality, nearly 25,000 same sex marriages (23,914) were counted in the 2021 Census.

Source: Family composition (FMCF), Registered marital status (MSTP), Sex (SEXP).

Based on place of enumeration. Excludes visitor only and other non-classifiable households.

Source: Household composition (HHCD).

• 70 per cent were separate houses, 13 per cent were townhouses and 16 per cent were apartments.
• Two thirds of households (66.0 per cent) own their home outright or with a mortgage. 
• One third of households rent (30.6 per cent).

Source: Dwelling structure (STRD), Tenure type (TEND).

Owned with a mortgage includes dwellings being purchased under a shared equity scheme. Rented excludes dwellings being occupied rent-free. Refers to occupied private dwellings and excludes visitor only and other non-classifiable households. Other tenure type and tenure type not stated represent remaining 3.4 per cent.

Source: Tenure type (TEND).

More than half a million Australians (581,139) have served, or are currently serving, in the Australian Defence Force.

• 84,865 people are currently serving in the Australian Defence Force.
• 496,276 people reported that they had previously served.
• One in twenty (5.3 per cent) Australian households (dwellings) had at least one person who had served or is serving in the Australian Defence Force.
• Females make up 20.6 per cent of currently serving members of the ADF, and 13.4 per cent of former serving members.
• The data shows that there are 129,437 former serving members between the age of 65-74 years. 

Source: Australian Defence Force service (ADFP), Household composition (HHCD), Sex (SEXP), Age (AGEP).

For the first time, the Census collected information on ten common long-term health conditions in Australia. Over eight million people reported they had been diagnosed with a long-term health condition in the 2021 Census.

• 4.8 million people reported having one of the selected long-term health conditions
• 1.5 million had two of the selected long-term health conditions
• 750,000 people reported having been diagnosed with three or more of the selected long-term health conditions
• A further 1 million reported having at least one other long-term health condition 
• More than 16 million people reported not having a long-term health condition.

The most commonly reported long-term health condition in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory was a mental health condition. In New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania it was arthritis, and in the Northern Territory it was asthma.

Source: Count of selected long-term health conditions (CLTHP), Whether has other long-term health condition(s) (HOLHP), Whether has one or more long-term health condition(s) (HLTHP).

• Over 11 million (11,511,655) people in Australia reported having a non-school (vocational or tertiary) qualification, a 19.8 per cent increase since 2016.

  • 5.5 million people (5,464,631) in Australia reported having a bachelor degree or higher, a 30.7 per cent increase since 2016.

  • 4 million people (3,962,732) in Australia reported having certificate I to IV, a 10.6 per cent increase since 2016.

• The most common field of study for non-school qualifications was Business and Management (1,144,084 people), followed by Teacher Education (836,410 people), and Nursing (608,276 people).
• The fastest growing qualifications were Security Science, now 5,805 people qualified (up 460 per cent since 2016), followed by Artificial Intelligence, now 630 people (up 204 per cent), and Southern Asian Languages, now 670 people (up 123 per cent).

Source: Non-school qualification: level of education (QALLP), Non-school qualification: field of study (QALFP).

• Of the 12 million people (12,049,410) employed in the week before the Census, 7 million people (7,095,103) worked full-time, 4 million worked part-time (3,962,550), and almost 1 million were away from work (991,758).
• The median hours worked in Australia is 38 hours per week. 
• 38 per cent of the workforce worked 40 hours or more, a decrease from 45 per cent a decade ago.
• Health Care and Social Assistance is the largest employing industry in Australia (14.5 per cent of the workforce), followed by Retail Trade (9.1 per cent) and Construction (8.9 per cent).
• The top three reported occupations were Sales Assistants (General) (514,084), Registered Nurses (262,742), and General Clerks (244,849).

Source: Labour force status (LFSP), Hours worked (HRSP), Industry of employment (INDP), Occupation (OCCP).

• 79.3 per cent of people (19,932,538) lived at the same address 1 year before Census night (10 August 2020).
• 55,130 Australian born people moved back to Australia from overseas in the year before the Census. 
• 40.7 per cent of people (9,751,422) changed their address in the 5 years before the Census. 7,364,876 people moved within their state, 920,982 people moved interstate and 1,289,422 people were living overseas.

Source: Usual address one year ago indicator (UAI1P), Country of birth of person (BPLP), Usual address five years ago indicator (UAI5P).

Snapshot of New South Wales

Snapshot of Victoria

Snapshot of Queensland

Snapshot of South Australia

Snapshot of Western Australia

Snapshot of Tasmania

Snapshot of Northern Territory

Snapshot of Australian Capital Territory

The questions from the 2021 Census are output into variables. To see descriptions of the variables, including data use considerations, see the 2021 Census dictionary.

To access more 2021 Census data, see Search Census data or to build your own data sets, see Census data tools.

Explore other ABS data: 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: Census

Cultural diversity: Census

Disability and carers: Census

Education and training: Census

Health: Census

Household and families: Census

Housing: Census

Income and work: Census

Location: Census

Population: Census

Service with the Australian Defence Force: Census

Transport: Census

Unpaid work and care: Census

12/10/2022 - Information added to Living with COVID-19. New information on Education, The Australian workforce, and Movement. New pages added to Other ABS links.