SBS census explorer to provide new insights into contemporary Australia

The 2026 Census Explorer will give marketers new insights to the diverse communities that make up contemporary Australia.  

The national broadcaster plans to bring insights to life with its market-leading Australian Census Explorer, unlocking a new lens for marketers and brands to understand contemporary Australia.  

SBS has confirmed its market leading SBS Census Explorer will give Australians new and fresh insights into the composition, ancestry and diversity of communities that make up our country, following the upcoming release of 2026 Census data next year.  

For many years, SBS’s Australian Census Explorer has sought to bring to life the data in the five yearly Census as a useful and practical tool for organisations that want to better understand the makeup of an increasingly diverse Australia.  

In 2027, as part of SBS Examines, the SBS Census Explorer will return with updated, trusted profiles of language groups and locations across the country. SBS will also use the data release to focus on gender demographics and languages other than English. 

The SBS Explorer also continues SBS’s commitment to First Nations culture and will have multi-language support.  

“The Census is always an incredibly important moment for SBS,” said David Hua, SBS Director of Audio Language Content. “We are so excited that the SBS Census Explorer will be back under the SBS Examines banner, giving Australians a clear and trusted lens on how Australia is evolving. 

“With data spanning four censuses since 2011, the SBS Census Explorer is an incredible resource for our partners to understand even more about the communities of every language spoken and every place across Australia.”  

The 2026 Census also asks questions about ancestry and for the first time asked questions about sexual orientation and gender identity. 

SBS Acting Director of Media Sales Lee Fifoot noted that the SBS Census Explorer would be an incredible resource for marketers and their agencies.  

“With more than half of Australians born overseas or having a parent who was, and fresh Census data arriving next year, we’re refreshing SBS Census Explorer as a free tool to help marketers understand Australia’s changing communities and consumer behaviours,” said Fifoot. “This work is instrumental in helping marketers plan and connect with the Australia you see when you walk out the door.” 

The SBS Australian Census Explorer is driven by the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census 2026 data, while also including data from 2021, 2016 and 2011 for comparison purposes. 

The SBS Australian Census Explorer drills down into the detail of the Census’ key findings, illustrating a larger and increasingly diverse population, as more than half of all Australians are first or second-generation migrants and more than 5.6 million Australians speak a language other than English at home. 

The new improved SBS Census Explorer will launch in June 2027 with updates to coincide with the ABS data releases.  

For further information and interview requests please contact:  

Deb Han | [email protected] | 0451 855 711

For a PDF of this media release, click here.