Australia

Between 1788 and the , the vast majority of settlers and immigrants came from the (principally , and ). Their descendants form a broad ethnic category known as . In the decades immediately following the Second World War, Australia received a from across , with many more immigrants arriving from and than in previous decades. Since the end of the in 1973, Australia has pursued an official policy of , of immigration from across the world, with the primary sources of immigrants today being countries.[270]

Today, Australia has the world's immigrant population, with immigrants accounting for 29% of the population, a higher proportion than in any other nation with a population of over 10 million. 162,417 permanent immigrants were admitted to Australia in 2017–18. but the immigration quota includes categories for family members and . (4%), (2.6%), (2.4%), (2.3%) and the (1.1%).[28]

In the 2016 Australian census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:— and . Indigenous Australians experience higher than average rates of imprisonment and unemployment, lower levels of education, and life expectancies for males and females that are, respectively, 11 and 17 years lower than those of non-indigenous Australians."-like conditions.[279]

Language

Although Australia has no official language, English is the national language. is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon, serves as the standard dialect.

According to the 2016 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for 72.7% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are (2.5%), (1.4%), (1.2%), (1.2%) and (1.2%)..

Over 250 are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact, At the time of the 2006 census, 52,000 Indigenous Australians, representing 12% of the Indigenous population, reported that they spoke an Indigenous language at home. known as , which is the main language of about 10,112 deaf people who reported that they spoke Auslan language at home in the 2016 census.[286]

Religion

Australia has no ; Section 116 of the prohibits the from making any law to establish any religion, impose any religious observance, or prohibit the free exercise of any religion., including 22.6% as and 13.3% as ; 30.1% of the population reported having ""; 8.2% identify with non-Christian religions, the largest of these being (2.6%), followed by (2.4%), (1.9%), (0.5%) and (0.4%). The remaining 9.7% of the population did not provide an adequate answer. Those who reported having no religion increased conspicuously from 19% in 2006 to 22% in 2011 to 30.1% in 2016.[287]

Before European settlement, the animist beliefs of Australia's indigenous people had been practised for many thousands of years. Mainland Aboriginal Australians' spirituality is known as the and it places a heavy emphasis on belonging to the land. The collection of stories that it contains shaped Aboriginal law and customs. , story and dance continue to draw on these spiritual traditions. The spirituality and customs of , who inhabit the islands between Australia and New Guinea, reflected their Melanesian origins and dependence on the sea. The 1996 Australian census counted more than 7000 respondents as followers of a traditional Aboriginal religion.[289]

Since the arrival of the of British ships in 1788, Christianity has become the major religion practised in Australia. Christian churches have played an integral role in the development of education, health and welfare services in Australia. For much of Australian history, the (now known as the ) was the largest religious denomination, with a large minority. However, multicultural immigration has contributed to a steep decline in its relative position since the . Similarly, , , , and have all grown in Australia over the past half-century.[290]

Australia has one of the lowest levels of religious adherence in the world.

Health

Australia's life expectancy is the third highest in the world for males and the seventh highest for females. Australia has the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, is the largest preventable cause of death and disease, responsible for 7.8% of the total mortality and disease. Ranked second in preventable causes is at 7.6%, with obesity third at 7.5%. Australia ranks 35th in the world for its proportion of adults

Total expenditure on health (including private sector spending) is around 9.8% of GDP. in 1975., it is now nominally funded by an income tax surcharge known as the , currently set at 2%. (subsidising the costs of medicines) and general practice.[302]