CANBERRA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Australians' sense of national pride and belonging has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade, a report has found.

The independent not-for-profit Scanlon Foundation Research Institute (SFRI) on Wednesday published the latest Australian Cohesion Index.

Published every two years in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs, the index combines survey findings with data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to measure the health, wellbeing and connectedness of Australians.

Wednesday's report found that 52 percent of Australians said they feel they have a "great sense" of belonging in the country in 2022, down from 72 percent when the index was first published in 2007.

The proportion of Australians adults who said they take great pride in the national culture and way of life has fallen from 48 percent in 2007 to 37 percent in 2022, the report said.

In a speech to an online event launching the report on Wednesday, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said some findings should "give us pause".

"Our sense of national pride, alongside community involvement, has decreased back to its lowest levels since 2007," he said.

"Alarmingly, levels of belonging and a sense of social justice are now lower than they were pre-pandemic."

Seventy-eight percent of 2022 survey respondents said they had been happy or very happy in the previous 12 months compared to 89 percent in 2007 and 69 percent agreed Australia is a "land of opportunity", down from 81 percent in 2007.

However, Giles said he was "pleased" with the shifting attitude toward diversity charted by the index.

The 2022 survey found that 78 percent of adults agree that accepting migrants from many different countries makes Australia stronger, up from 59 percent in 2007, and 88 percent believe multiculturalism has been good for the country.