SBS has produced a fascinating interactive platform that explores data from the 2021 Census to delve into Australia’s diversity.

The ‘SBS Census Explorer’ gives insights into the many and varied diverse communities living in Australia as well as the diversity of particular locations, the languages spoken and how the nation is changing.

The 2021 Census found Australia’s population has become larger and more culturally diverse over the past five years.

The nation’s population increased by 2.2 million to 25.5 million between 2016 and 2021 as more than a million people moved to Australia from overseas, the census data shows.

It shows the population has doubled over the past fifty years. And for the first time, more than half of Australians (51.5 per cent) were either born overseas or had at least one parent born in another country.

India leapfrogged China and New Zealand to become the third-largest country of birth behind Australia and Britain; while 5.5 million people speak a language other than English at home, an increase of almost 800,000.

The census also revealed 27.6 per cent of the population were born overseas and 61,860 international visitors were in Australia during the Census collection period in October 2021.

Among people born overseas, the fastest growing new communities were from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iraq and the Philippines.

The top five 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).

The top five 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).

Victoria is the most diverse state in Australia with a third of the population born overseas. The proportion of foreign-born Victorians has increased over time from 22.5 per cent in 1971 to 28.3 per cent in 2016, and 30 per cent in 2021.

In 2021, the top five countries of birth in Victoria were: Australia (65 per cent); India (4 per cent); England (2.7 per cent); China (2.6 per cent), and; New Zealand (1.5 per cent).

The census also reveals that Australia is becoming less religious with the number of people identifying as Christians dropping below 50 per cent for first time.

The top five 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).

Access the Census Explorer here: SBS Census Explorer: 2021 Australian Census results interactive | SBS News