Census 2016: home ownership declines as renting rates increase – as it happened

There has been a 39% increase in same-sex couples since 2011, and Catholicism has fallen to 22.6% of the population, down from 25.3%, while ‘no religion’ has grown to 29.6%. Follow the findings live

What story has the census told of modern Australia?

We’re wrapping up our live coverage of the census data. Here’s a summary of what it has told us about ourselves:

• The role of religion in our lives is dwindling. For the first time, the proportion of those with no religious affiliation (29.6%) overtook the next most common response (affiliation with the Catholic church at 22.6%)
•  Australia is becoming more culturally and linguistically diverse. The number of people speaking English at home dropped to 72.7% in 2016, compared to 76.8% five years ago
• There’s been a slight shift away from home ownership towards renting. Rents have gone up ($335 per week in 2016, compared to $285 in 2011), while mortgage repayments have gone down ($1,800 a month in 2011 to $1,755 a month in 2016)
• Australia’s population is ageing. Those aged 65 and over now account for 16% of the total population, compared to 14% in 2011. The median age has increased to 38, after remaining at 37 for the past decade
• The movement of Australians to capital cities continues. Two-thirds of Australians now live in capital cities. The ACT experienced the fastest population growth, while Melbourne was quickly catching up to Sydney as Australia’s most populous city
• Same-sex couples counted in the census increased by 39% since 2011
• The median weekly income is now $662, up from $577 in 2011, and wage growth appears to be outstripping inflation
• The population of Indigenous Australians has increased by 18% since 2011, but there remains a significant gap in median age and the proportion of the population aged over 65
• The number of overseas-born Australians coming from Englandhas steadily declined over the years, while we’ve seen increasing arrivals from China and India, particularly since 2006
• The ABS, government ministers and the independent assurance panel have all been at pains to emphasise that the data is reliable, despite the blow in public confidence caused by #censusfail.

Thanks for staying with us. We’re continuing to look at the census data in detail, and will have more coverage throughout the afternoon.