Census 2016: Dropping numbers for Greeks in Australia

Fifteen thousand (15,000) fewer Australians speak Greek at home, according to the 2016 census. 237,000 Australian residents were recorded to speak the language at home as opposed to 252,000 Greek speakers during the 2011 census. 1.8% of the total Australian population replied that is of Greek background, which is equal to 421,000 people. Encouraging for Australia’s Greek community is the fact that our community enjoys some of the highest percentages of people who speak their parents' language, compared with other Australian-born children of non-English speaking communities, according to the 2016 Census.

Source: SBS Greek

Australia is older, more ethnically diverse and less religious than ever before, according to the 2016 census results released today. It was dubbed "census fail" after multiple website outages left millions unable to complete their forms online.

But despite the difficulties, 95.1 per cent of Australians completed the survey and an independent panel has declared the data fit to use.

Our population was counted at 23,401,892 on census night.

Here's a snapshot of Australia in 2016.

The average Australian

• Female
• 38 years old
• Born in Australia
• Speaks English
• Married
• Living in a capital city
• Earning $662 a week