Place Forecast Update #21: Socio-economic markers: Cultural diversity

We've updated Place Forecast with its second set of socio-economic markers: the Cultural diversity theme.

Families came first, in June. Cultural diversity follows with nine markers that describe who lives in a place:

First Nations: Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, part of every forecast.
Religion: religious affiliation, including no religion.
Citizenship: Australian citizens and people who are not Australian citizens.
Year of arrival: when people born overseas arrived in Australia.
Birthplace: the country each person was born in.
Country of birth of parents: whether both parents, one parent or neither parent was born overseas.
Ancestry: the ancestries people identify with (each person could name up to two).
Proficiency in English: how well people born overseas say they speak English, as a guide to where interpreter services can help.
Language used at home: the languages people speak at home.

They're built from the 2021 Census and sit alongside Place Forecast's housing-led projections, adding context rather than driving the forecast.

You'll find them in the Markers menu under Cultural diversity, next to Families. Like the Families markers, each one has a single-area view and a Compare small areas view, a filter for the categories you care about, a count or percentage toggle, and downloadable charts and tables. Markers with long lists (birthplace, language, ancestry, and religion) open to the ten largest categories in your area and fold the rest into "All other categories". You can show five, fifteen, twenty or all of them.

Two of the nine, shown on our demo forecasts:

Language used at home shows which languages people speak at home, from English only through 40 languages and language groups. It’s the marker we expect councils to use most: it shows where translated information and interpreter services will be needed, area by area.

(Language used at home of Burwood)

Country of birth of parents shows whether both parents, only the mother, only the father or neither parent was born overseas. It's the clearest view of second-generation Australians, and it's the one we're quietly chuffed about: you won't find it in the other Australian council demographic tools.

(Country of birth of parents of Kingston)

Curious to see it on real data? Click on any link above, or take a look through our demo forecasts. The markers will appear in your forecast the next time a pending version becomes active.

Want to see it in action? Reply to this email to book a walkthrough.

Weddin Shire Council in New South Wales has made its forecast public. Anyone can now explore it: the Weddin forecast.

With Weddin, half of our clients now share their forecast publicly with us. We’re celebrating that milestone. Going public means a council stands behind the numbers in front of its community, and we’re proud of the trust that shows in us and our work. Thank you!

You'll find every public forecast on our forecasts page.

Andrew and Bernd from Place Info

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