What is Ethnicity in Australia?
The people of [[Australia]] have diverse ethnic origins. The territory of what today is Australia was first inhabited by numerous indigenous peoples. The first European settlers came during the period of British colonization, beginning in the 16th century. Following independence from [[United Kingdom]] in the 20th century, numerous migration waves took place. Most of these migrants came from Europe and Asia. A few of them came from Africa == Official data== Although the [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]] does not collect data on race or ethnicity, each [[census ]] asks Australian residents to indicate up to two ancestries. These ancestry responses are categorised into broad standardised ancestry groups.<ref>{{cite web|date=28 June 2022|title=Understanding and using Ancestry data|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/detailed-methodology-information/information-papers/understanding-and-using-ancestry-data|website=Australian Bureau of Statistics}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=18 December 2019|title=Australian Standard Classification of Cultural and Ethnic Groups (ASCCEG), 2019|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/classifications/australian-standard-classification-cultural-and-ethnic-groups-ascceg/latest-release|website=Australian Bureau of Statistics}}</ref> Immigration minister Andrew Giles has promised to include a question on ethnicity in the 2026 Australian census.<ref>{{cite news|date=16 June 2022|title='If you're not counted, you don't know that you exist': Federal government to collect data on Australians' ethnicity|newspaper=ABC News|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-16/federal-government-to-measure-ethnicity-data-multiculturalism/101158038}}</ref> == Ancestral groups == At the 2021 census, the ancestry responses categorised as European were 57.2% (46% North-West European and 11.2% Southern and Eastern European), Asian ancestral groups were 17.4% (6.5% Southern and Central Asian, 6.4% North-East Asian and 4.5% South-East Asian), North African and Middle Eastern groups were 3.2%, Peoples of the Ameri