Characteristics
The 2006 Census counted 199,124 persons who were born in Italy. In 2011, 916,100 persons identified themselves as having Italian ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry (4.6%). Italian is the fifth most identified ancestry in Australia behind 'Australian', 'English', 'Irish' and 'Scottish'. Italian is the second most utilised language at home, with 316,900 speakers (or 1.6% of the Australian population). Italians arrived most prominently in the decades immediately following World War II, and they and their children have had a significant impact on the cultural, social and economic life of Australia.
Read more about this topic: Italian Australian