Everyone belongs

Australia is a culturally diverse nation, and our diversity makes us who we are today.

But how diverse are we really?

Harmony Day, observed yearly on 21 March, celebrates themes of belonging, diversity and respect for people of all backgrounds.

Our diversity brings us together; because the one thing we all have in common is that we are all unique!

Here are five facts you may not know about the place we all call home:

1. In 2019 Australia was home to over 7.5 million migrants (29.7% of the population)¹, and this number continues to rise each year.
2. Australia’s largest groups of overseas-born residents come from, in descending order, England, China, India and New Zealand¹.
3. Our most common languages spoken at home include English only (72.7%), Mandarin (2.5%), Arabic (1.4%), Cantonese and Vietnamese (both 1.2%)².
4. Australia has resettled over 900,000 refugees over the last 74 years³.
5. In 2016 there were 798,400 Indigenous people in Australia⁴ (3.3% of the population).

Liz Gellel | Communications Coordinator

Sources:

• ¹ABS - Migration, Australia
• ²ABS - 2016 Census: Multicultural
• ³Refugee Week - Statistics on refugees
• ⁴ABS - Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

Read more:

• Shout out, students!
• The link between language diversity & inclusion