Cultural background

Understanding the origins of everyone in Australia is crucial. By asking questions about cultural backgrounds, the Census can provide crucial insights on the diverse cultural make-up of the country, enabling governments, businesses, and not-for-profit organisations to make informed decisions and better plan support and services for all communities.

(Q16 in the Census Household Form)

Collecting citizenship data benefits the public by identifying groups who become Australian citizens, counting those who are eligible to vote so that the Australian electoral roll is of high quality.

This data supports informed decisions for better community planning and support.

• If the person is an Australian citizen, select 'Yes, Australian citizen'. Otherwise, select 'No'.
• If the person has dual citizenship and one is Australian, select 'Yes, Australian citizen'.

(Q17 in the Census Household Form)

We ask about country of birth to understand the origins of everyone who lives in Australia. This information plays an important role in developing policies and services that meet the needs of our diverse society.

• The countries listed were the most commonly reported countries of birth in the 2021 Census (for example, Australia, England, India), except China. Although China is a country in which a large proportion of Australia's population were born, China does not have a response category on the form. This is to encourage people to write in China, Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan.
• If the country of birth is not listed, and for people born in external territories like Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Jervis Bay, please enter the name of the country/territory in the 'Other (specify)' box.

(Q18 in the Census Household Form)

We collect this information to understand how long people stay in Australia, and how the population changes over time. We only ask this question if the person was born outside of Australia and intends to stay for at least one year.

• Enter the year the person first arrived in Australia with the plan of staying for at least one year.
• Enter the year the person first arrived in Australia, not the year of their most recent arrival.
• People born in external territories like Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Jervis Bay should leave this question blank.

We ask about the country of birth of parents to understand the person’s family background. The information collected for these questions, together with the Country of birth of person question, allows the study of first-generation and second-generation Australians.

These questions allow for the collection of country of birth for up to two of the person’s parents. If the country of birth is the same for both parents, it is important to answer both Question 19 and 20.

The questions are worded differently on the paper and online forms because of extra functionality available in the online form. 

(Q19 in the paper Census Household Form)

(online Census Household Form)

• Provide the country of birth for one of the person’s parents, this could be a mother or parent of any gender.
• A parent could be a step-parent or adoptive parent.
• If the person's parent was born in external territories like Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Jervis Bay, enter the location in the 'Other (specify)' box.
• If the person is unable to answer this question, leave blank.
• The countries listed were the most commonly reported countries of birth for parents in the 2021 Census.
• Paper form only: For all countries of birth that are not Australia, write the name of the country in the 'Other (specify)' box.
• Online form only: If the country of birth is not listed, please enter the name of the country in the 'Other (specify)' box. 

(Q20 in the paper Census Household Form)

(online Census Household Form)

• Provide the country of birth for one of the person’s parents, this could be a father or parent of any gender.
• A parent could be a step-parent or adoptive parent.
• If the person's parent was born in external territories like Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Jervis Bay, enter the location in the 'Other (specify)' box.
• If the person is unable to answer this question, leave blank.
• The countries listed were the most commonly reported countries of birth for parents in the 2021 Census.
• Paper form only: For all countries of birth that are not Australia, write the name of the country in the 'Other (specify)' box.
• Online form only: If the country of birth is not listed, please enter the name of the country in the 'Other (specify)' box.

(Q21 in the Census Household Form)

This question asks whether someone uses a language other than English at home, and if so, which language they use most often.

Understanding how many people speak certain languages helps:

• government and organisations to provide and plan ongoing support for various languages
• service providers plan what languages they should be delivering services in for different communities across Australia. For example, libraries use Census data to understand languages spoken in local communities so they can stock in-language books for their readers.

• If more than one language other than English is used, enter the language that is used most often.
• If the person lives alone, answer with the language they most commonly use with visitors in their home.
• If the person uses only English at home, select ‘No, English only’, even if they can use another language.
• For a language not listed, please select the ‘Yes, other language (specify)’ option and enter the name of the language in the box.
• For people who cannot speak, or if the person is too young to speak, enter 'Not able to speak' in the 'Yes, other language (specify)' box for this question.
• For people who use sign language select ‘Yes, other language (specify)’ and enter the name of the sign language. For example, Auslan.
• Include use of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages in the ‘Yes, other language (specify)’ text boxes.
• The languages listed on the form were the most common languages used at home, other than English, in the 2021 Census.

(Q22 in the Census Household Form)

Understanding how well people speak English helps:

• governments and organisations to plan and provide support in developing English language skills
• service providers understand whether they should be delivering services in languages other than English for different communities across Australia.

This question is only asked of people who reported that they use a language other than English at home.

• If the person uses a sign language at home, please record how well they can speak English.
• Leave this question blank for people who cannot speak and cannot use sign language. This includes children who are too young to speak.

(Q23 in the Census Household Form)

Ancestry can be related to the place a person or their parents or grandparents were born, or the cultural/ethnic group they most identify with. For example, a person may have been born in Australia, but they have Papua New Guinean ancestry. Collecting ancestry information helps us understand the rich cultural diversity of the Australian population.

• Provide up to four ancestries only.
• If more than four ancestries apply, provide the four ancestries the person most closely identifies with.
• The person can provide less than four ancestries if this best reflects their cultural/ethnic background.
• If the person is unclear about what ancestry should be included, consider the ethnic or cultural origins of the person’s parents and/or grandparents as a guide.
• If the person is a Pacific Islander, report their ancestry as accurately as possible, for example, Samoan, Tongan or Cook Islander.
• If the person is a descendant of South Sea Islanders brought to Australia as labourers at the turn of the twentieth century, please answer ‘Australian South Sea Islander’.
• If the person’s ancestry is not listed, enter the name of the ancestry in the ‘Other ancestry’ boxes.
• The ancestries listed were common ancestries in the 2021 Census.

(Q24 in the Census Household Form)

This question intends to measure religious affiliation, which may be different from a person's practice of or participation in a religious activity. It also allows people to respond to indicate if they have no religious affiliation at all.

Data on religious affiliation is used for:

• planning the location of educational facilities, aged care and other social services provided by religion-based organisations
• planning the location of places of worship
• the assigning of chaplains to hospitals, prisons, armed services, and universities
• the allocation of time on public radio and other media
• sociological research.

• Answering this question is optional.
• If the person has a religion, please mark one box, or select the 'Other (specify)' option and enter the details of the religion in the box. The person can use ‘Other (specify)’ to provide a level of detail not included in the list.
• If the person wants to provide more detail on their Catholic religion, enter the full name of the religion in the ‘Other (specify)’ box. For example, Chaldean Catholic, Maronite Catholic, Melkite Catholic, Syriac Catholic, Syro Malabar Catholic, Ukrainian Catholic, or Western Catholic.
• If the person wants to provide an Orthodox religion such as Antiochian Orthodox, Macedonian Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox or Syrian Orthodox, enter the full name of the religion in the ‘Other (specify)’ box.
• People who have non-theistic religious beliefs or other life philosophies can provide their response in the ‘Other (specify)’ box.
• If the person identifies with no religion at all, select ‘No religion’.
• Examples of non-religious beliefs include Agnosticism, Atheism Humanism and Rationalism.
• The religious groups listed in the response options were those most commonly reported in the 2021 Census.
• A person can select one response only.