2021 Census reveals boomers remain dominant generation in Goulburn despite national shift

The results of the latest national Census on Tuesday revealed that Australia is a fast-changing, growing and culturally diverse nation.

So what has, or hasn't changed in Goulburn?

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The 2021 Census counted nearly 25.5 million people in Australia revealing that the population has more than doubled in the last 50 years, with the 1971 Census counting around 12 million people.

In the Goulburn-Mulwaree region, there were 38,403 people counted on Census night, up slightly from the 35,559 counted in 2016.

One of the biggest changes in this year's data was that within a very small margin, the numbers of Millennials (25-39 years old) have caught up to Baby Boomers (55-74 years old) as the largest generational group in Australia.

READ MORE: Hey baby boomer, shuffle over. Millennials on the rise, Census says

However, that trend hasn't quite reached Goulburn-Mulwaree yet. There are currently 10,181 people between the ages of 55 to 74 and just 6,845 Millennials.

Although that's not to say that things aren't changing at all.

While Christianity remains the dominant religion in the region, there are now 11,452 people who identify as having 'no religion', up from 7,151 in 2016.

This matches a broader national trend where almost 40 per cent of Australia's population reported having no religion in the 2021 Census, an increase from 30 per cent in 2016 and 22 per cent in 2011.

However, nationally more than 40 per cent of the population are still identifying as Christian.

ALSO READ: Christianity still top but numbers falling

One of many possible factors impacting this could be Australia's increasing multiculturalism with the 2021 Census finding that almost half of Australians have a parent born overseas and 27.6 per cent reporting their own birthplace overseas.

Goulburn-Mulwaree's ethnic makeup has remained the same over time with the majority of the population born in Australia followed by England and New Zealand.

The fourth most common birthplace in the 2021 Census was India followed by the Philippines.

Nationally, the largest increase in country of birth, outside Australia, was India with around 220,000 additional people counted.

India has now moved past China and New Zealand to become the third largest country of birth behind Australia and England, although it remains fourth in Goulburn-Mulwaree by a margin of just 120 people.

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