Australians

"Australian" redirects here. For other uses, see Australian (disambiguation).

Australian people
Australians

Donald Bradman · Hugh Jackman · Heath Ledger Kylie Minogue · Angus Young · Leigh Whannell · Nicole Kidman
Total population
23,400,000
Regions with significant populations
Australia 23,162,000
Greece 135,000+ United Kingdom 96,900 United States 89,210 Netherlands 78,927 New Zealand 62,700 China 51,900 Canada 42,000 Italy 30,000 Lebanon 25,000 Chile 23,305[citation needed] El Salvador 18,000[citation needed] Argentina 11,369 Uruguay 9,376 Brazil 7,491 Peru 6,322 Colombia 5,706

Australian people, or simply Australians, are the citizens of Australia. Australia is a multi-ethnic nation, and therefore the term "Australian" is not a racial identifier. Aside from the Indigenous Australian population, nearly all Australians or their ancestors immigrated within the past 230 years. Colloquial names used to refer to Australians include Aussies, and Antipodeans.

The mainstream Australian culture (occasionally defined as the Anglo-Celtic culture), is a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of Western European migrants beginning with the early settlers from England, Scotland, and Ireland. The populations of Sydney, Melbourne and the other major cities are different from the demographics of rural Australia as a result of the differing migration patterns.

Australian people can refer to:

• The citizens of Australia, as defined by Australian nationality law
• People whose ancestors lived in Australia

Indigenous Australians

See also: Indigenous Australians

The earliest accepted timeline for the first arrivals of indigenous Australians to the continent of Australia places this human migration to at least 40,000 years ago most probably from the islands of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

These first inhabitants of Australia were originally hunter-gatherer peoples, who over the course of many succeeding generations diversified widely throughout the continent and its nearby islands. Although their technical culture remained static—depending on wood, bone, and stone tools and weapons—their spiritual and social life was highly complex. Most spoke several languages, and confederacies sometimes linked widely scattered tribal groups. Aboriginal population density ranged from one person per square mile along the coasts to one person per 35 square miles (91 km²) in the arid interior. Food procurement was usually a matter for the nuclear family, requiring an estimated 3 days of work per week. There was little large game, and outside of some communities in the more fertile south-east, they had no agriculture.

Australia may have been sighted by Portuguese sailors in 1701, and Dutch navigators landed on the forbidding coast of modern Western Australia several times during the 17th century. Captain James Cook claimed the east coast for Great Britain in 1770, the west coast was later settled by Britain also. At that time, the indigenous population was estimated to have been between 315,000 and 750,000, divided into as many as 500 tribes^{[citation needed]} speaking many different languages. In the 2006 Census, 407,700 respondents declared they were Aboriginal, 29,512 declared they were Torres Strait Islander, and a further 17,811 declared they were both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. After adjustments for undercount, the indigenous population as of end June 2006 was estimated to be 517,200, representing about 2.5% of the population.

Since the end of World War II, efforts have been made both by the government and by the public to be more responsive to Aboriginal rights and needs. Today, many tribal Aborigines lead a settled traditional life in remote areas of northern, central, and western Australia. In the south, where most Aborigines are of mixed descent, most live in the cities.

Australian diaspora

Main article: Australian diaspora

There is an estimated 1 million Australians (approximately 5% of the population) residing outside Australia. Hundreds of thousands of young Australians traditionally spend time living in Europe, but most return to Australia. The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement facilitates open migration to and from New Zealand. Key factors affecting the Australian Diaspora are rise of a global labour market, more accessible and economical international transport, and increasingly sophisticated communication technologies along with a growing interest in broader global community.

Population

Main article: Demographics of Australia

The current Australian population is estimated at 23,162,000 (23 May 2012). This does not include an estimated 1 million Australians living overseas (see above), but it includes the estimated 24% of Australians born overseas (in various nations, but predominantly the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Italy, China, Vietnam, India, the Philippines, and Greece).

Historical

The data in the table is sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Note that population estimates in the table below do not include the Aboriginal population before 1961. Estimates of Aboriginal population prior to European settlement range from 300,000 to one million, with archaeological finds indicating a sustainable population of around 750,000.

Pre-Federation Year Population Year Population 1788 8590 1848 332,3280 1798 4,5880 1858 1,050,8280 1808 10,2630 1868 1,539,5520 1818 25,8590 1878 2,092,1640 1828 58,1970 1888 2,981,6770 1838 151,8680 1898 3,664,7150

Year Population  % change Year Population  % change Year Population  % change 1901 3,788,1230 -0 1941 7,109,8980 4.90 1981 14,923,2600 6.30 1906 4,059,0830 7.20 1946 7,465,1570 5.00 1986 16,018,3500 7.30 1911 4,489,5450 10.60 1951 8,421,7750 12.80 1991 17,284,0360 12.80 1916 4,943,1730 10.10 1956 9,425,5630 11.90 1996 18,310,7140 5.90 1921 5,455,1360 10.40 1961 10,548,2670 11.90 2001 19,413,2400 6.00 1926 6,056,3600 11.00 1966 11,599,4980 10.00 2006 20,848,7600 7.40 1931 6,526,4850 7.80 1971 13,067,2650 12.70   1936 6,778,3720 3.40 1976 14,033,0830 7.40

Ancestry

For generations, the vast majority of both colonial-era settlers and post-Federation immigrants came from the United Kingdom and Ireland, although the gold rushes also drew migrants from other countries. Since the end of World War II, Australia's population more than doubled, spurred by large-scale European immigration during the immediate post-war decades. At this time, the White Australia Policy discouraged non-European immigration.

Abolition of the White Australia Policy in the mid-1970s led to a significant increase in non-European immigration, mostly from Asia and the Middle East. About 90% of Australia's population is of European descent. Over 8% of the population is of Asian descent (predominantly Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino and Indian). The total indigenous population is estimated to be about 520,000 individuals, including people of mixed descent. The population of Queensland also includes descendants of South Sea Islanders brought over for indentured servitude in the 19th century.

In the 2006 Australian Census residents were asked to describe their ancestry, in which up to two could be nominated. Proportionate to the Australian resident population, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:

Australian (31.13%) English (29.65%) Irish (9.08%) Scottish (7.16%) Italian (4.29%) German (4.09%) Chinese (3.37%) Greek (1.84%) Dutch (1.56%) Indian (1.17%)

Lebanese (0.92%) Armenian (0.82%) New Zealand (0.81%) Filipino (0.81%) Maltese (0.77%) Croatian (0.59%) Australian Aboriginal (0.58%) Welsh (0.57%) Serbian (0.48%) Indonesian (0.47%)

Spanish (0.42%) Macedonian (0.42%) Sinhalese (0.37%) American (0.28%) French (0.5%) South African (0.4%) Hungarian (0.3%) Russian (0.3%) Turkish (0.3%)

At the 2006 Census 455,026 people (or 2.3% of the total Australian population) reported they were of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin.

Languages

Main article: Languages of Australia

English, a West Germanic language, is the de facto national language of Australia and is spoken by the majority of the population, regardless of other languages spoken. Most Australians speak Australian English, however Australian Aboriginal English and Torres Strait English, along with various creoles and pidgins, are spoken by some Indigenous Australians. Australia is home to a great number of unique but endangered Indigenous Australian languages, as well as Australian Aboriginal sign languages. Australia's hearing-impaired community primarily uses Auslan, a member of the BANZSL language family.

The diverse backgrounds of Australians lead to a great number of community languages being spoken:

Language	Speakers	Language	Speakers	Language	Speakers
English only	15,581,333	Korean	54,623	Assyrian	23,526
Italian	316,895	Turkish	53,857	Indonesian	23,164
Greek	252,226	Serbian	52,534	Persian	22,841
Arabic	243,662	French	43,216	Hungarian	21,565
Mandarin	220,600	Danish	42,036	Hindi	20,223
Vietnamese	194,863	Maltese	36,514	Urdu	19,288
Spanish	98,001	Russian	36,502	Bengali	15,743
Filipino (Tagalog)	92,331	Dutch	36,183	Punjabi	13,164
German	75,634	Japanese	35,111
Cantonese	70,011	Tamil	32,700
Hebrew	67,835	Romanian	29,055
Croatian	63,612	Portuguese	25,779
Polish	53,389	Khmer	24,715

Religion

Christianity	63.9%	Islam	1.7%
No religion	18.7%	Judaism	0.4%
No response	11.2%	Other	2%
Buddhism	2.1%	Source: ABS

Christianity (as % of total)
Roman Catholicism	25.8%
Anglicanism	18.7%
Other denomination	19.4%
Source: ABS

Main article: Religion in Australia

Australians have various religions and spiritual beliefs. The Australian Bureau of Statistics gathers information on religious belief in the national census. As in many Western countries, the level of active participation in church worship is lower than would be indicated by the proportion of the population identifying themselves as Christian; weekly attendance at church services is about 1.5 million, or about 7.5% of the population.

Nationality

Australians share Australian nationality, which is governed by Australian nationality law. Since there is no national identification card, commonly accepted proofs of Australian citizenship are the Australian passport, an Australian birth certificate (prior to 1986, when jus soli was abolished), or an Australian citizenship certificate. Australia permits dual citizenship with no restriction, but a more restricted qualification is imposed on people wishing to enter Parliament (see Sue v Hill).