One of the facts making the rounds since the census data was revealed, was the fact that Australia is becoming less and less a 'Christian' country. Granted, 52.2 per cent of Australians still identify as Christian, but when broken into various denominations, what we see is 5,291,834 Catholics (i.e. 22.6 per cent of the population, or 2.7 per cent down since the last census) 3,101,185 Anglicans (13.3 percent, or 3.8 percent less since 2011) and 3,808,600 people (or 16.3 per cent) identifying as 'other' Christian affiliations (which includes Greek Orthodox). So yes, Christianity is in decline, while other religions are slightly on the rise. Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu populations have risen - albeit by the almost insignificant percentages of 0.4, 0.1 and 0.6 respectively. In absolute numbers, this becomes 604,200 (or 2.6 per cent) Muslims, 563,700 (2.4 percent) Buddhists and 440,300 (1.9 per cent) Hindus.

In other words, when the mainstream rhetoric addresses the 'threat' of Islam, when conservative politicians warn us that we're 'swamped' with Muslims, they are referring to a meager 2.6 per cent of the population. No, Australia is not 'swamped with Muslims' - if anything, we're swamped with atheists and agnostics. Because, for the first time in history, the majority of Australians stated that they are of 'no religion'. That is 6,933,708 people out of a population of 23.4 million, accounting for 29.6 per cent of Australians - a number which has risen by 7.8 per cent since 2011.

This marks a significant shift in the nation's culture and mentality, showing a trend that will definitely affect how things will unfold in future generations.
Data against prejudice

And this is why we should be grateful for the census. Because it's hard data; simple, unbiased facts that are the most powerful weapon we can have against prejudice, against misconceptions, against distorted notions of reality. In the words of Greece's 'national' poet, Dionisios Solomos "whatever is true, is national". So, if Australia wants to defend its values and develop what can be a 'national' policy for the future, it should have at least a true idea of itself. And to get that idea, we should study the census data.

According to what we know so far, the 2016 census shows that there are 23.4 million people living in Australia, up 8.8 per cent since 2011. Most of us, about 80 per cent, live in the eastern mainland states, and mostly in the large cities. Nearly half of Australians were either born overseas, or one or both parents were born overseas. Yes, the majority of Australians, 66.7 per cent, or 15,614,835 were born here (a number which has risen by 3.1 per cent since the previous census), but 6,150,191 (or 26.3 per cent) were born overseas, compared to 5,280,802 in 2011. Of them, 907,570 come from England, 518,466 from New Zealand, 509,555 from China and 455,389 from India.

In other words, the 'average' Australian woman looking at herself in the mirror may still be mostly of 'Anglo' heritage, but less so, than her previous incarnation. In fact, the number of Australians speaking only English at home fell from almost 77 per cent in 2011 to almost 73 per cent in 2016. More than 300 languages are spoken in Australian homes, most notably Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, and Vietnamese.