Ronnie Navani, Founder & CEO of Multicultural Outdoor
For generations, modern Australia largely understood itself through a British lens. But new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has confirmed something many of us have felt building for years: Australia has entered a new demographic era.
For the first time in our history, the Indian-born population has overtaken those born in England to become Australia’s largest migrant group. More than 971,000 Indian-born residents now call Australia home - a shift that says far more about Australia’s future than it does about migration statistics.
This isn’t simply a cultural milestone. It’s an economic one.
A Pillar of the Australian Economy
Across healthcare, technology, logistics, hospitality, education and small business, Indian Australians are helping drive the workforce, the entrepreneurship and the consumer economy that modern Australia increasingly depends on. Indian-born migrants are also 1.6 times more likely to start businesses than the average Australian, contributing not just to labour, but innovation, investment and long-term economic growth.
And yet, despite this profound shift, much of Australia’s media and marketing industry is still planning for a version of Australia that no longer exists.
From a Grocery Store in Melbourne to a National Movement
When I migrated to Australia with my family in 2000, the landscape looked very different. I remember driving with my grandmother to a particular Indian grocery store several suburbs away. I asked why we couldn’t just shop somewhere closer.
She told me: “It’s not just about the shopping, Ronnie. It’s about hearing news from home and being among our community.”
At the time, I didn’t fully understand what she meant. Years later, that’s the very ethos that I’ve built my business around.
Because for multicultural communities, connection doesn’t only happen online or through translated messaging. It happens in the physical spaces that are woven into everyday life. The grocery stores, cafés, sporting clubs and neighbourhood hubs where trust already exists.
That’s the part many brands still misunderstand.
The "English-Speaking" Trap
There is a lingering assumption that because Indian Australians are usually well educated and have higher proficiency of the English language they can simply be reached through
“mainstream” channels in the same way as everyone else.
This is where many campaigns fail.
English fluency does not erase cultural behaviour. Being integrated into Australian life does not mean disconnecting from heritage, rituals, language, food, celebration or community identity. Like millions of migrant families, Indian Australians have learned how to build a life in Australia without letting go of the things that make us feel at home.
If brands only speak to multicultural Australians through mainstream media environments, they are often missing where genuine influence and trust are built. They are missing the local cricket tournaments, the festival celebrations, the family-owned retailers and the highly engaged community spaces that continue to shape purchasing behaviour and cultural connection.
This is where the industry needs to move beyond what I call the “translation trap.”
For too long, multicultural marketing has been treated as a box-ticking exercise. Translating existing creative into another language and considering the job done. But cultural relevance cannot be retrofitted onto a campaign at the end of a media plan.
Real multicultural marketing requires cultural presence.
It requires showing up consistently in the environments communities already trust. It requires understanding not just language, but behaviour. Not just demographics, but identity.
Because reach without relevance is just wasted budget.
The Future of ‘Mainstream Australia’
The brands and government bodies that will win the next decade in Australia will not be the ones that simply acknowledge multicultural audiences. They will be the ones that understand multicultural communities are already reshaping what “mainstream Australia” actually looks like.
The relationship between India and Australia is now one of the defining forces shaping modern Australia. The Indian-born population has almost quadrupled since 2006. By 2041, it’s projected to reach 1.7 million people. This influence will continue to grow across business, media, politics, culture and consumer behaviour.
The question for marketers is no longer whether multicultural Australia matters.
The question is whether the industry is prepared to catch up to the Australia that already exist