Census confirms Victoria is a multicultural state
|
21 June 2012
|
The first data from the 2011 Australian Census of Population and Housing was released today and highlighted the changing nature of Victoria's multicultural society.
|
In the 100 years since the first national Census, the multicultural nature of Australian society has developed and grown significantly – especially in Victoria. The 2011 Census underscores Victoria's growing cultural, religious and linguistic diversity, one of the State's greatest strengths.
One of the key highlights from the 2011 Census is the increase in Victorians that were born overseas from 23.8% to 26.2%. These people come from over 200 countries and join the additional 20.8% of Victorians who have at least one parent born overseas – compared to 20.2% at the last Census.
The top ten countries of birth for Victorians are: The UK, India, China, New Zealand, Italy, Vietnam, Greece, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Philippines. Those born in India represented the largest growth with the population rising more than 110 per cent from 58,935 in 2006 to 111,787 and those following Hinduism almost doubled to 83,137.
Other fast growing communities include those born in China (increase of 66%); in Sri Lanka (39.7%); and the Philippines (39.0%). This richly multicultural population means that almost a quarter of Victorians (23.1%) spoke a language other than English at home – a total of 240 different languages.
The 2011 Census is at: www.abs.gov.au
|
