Diversity of language

While English is the dominant language in Australia, many people speak a language other than English within their families and communities. This linguistic diversity is an asset for Australia and makes us more competitive in trade as well as fostering international ties and cultural exchange. 

The following data is derived from the 2021 Census:

• Collectively, Australians speak over 400 languages. Of these, 167 are actively spoken Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.
• About 23% of respondents reported speaking a language other than English at home. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages are spoken by less than 1% of the total population.
• The most common languages other than English are: Mandarin (685, 274), Arabic (367,159), Vietnamese (320,758), Cantonese (295,281), Punjabi (239,033), Greek (229,643) and Italian (228,042). Collectively, Chinese languages (including Cantonese, Mandarin and other Chinese languages) have the greatest number of speakers after English, accounting for approximately 4% of the total population.
• The languages other than English spoken at home vary between the states.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021, Customised tables

At the time of European colonisation, there were an estimated 250 languages spoken by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These languages were made up collectively of a total of about 500 different dialects. Since European colonisation many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and dialects were lost as speakers died or instead learned to speak other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, English or creoles. Creoles are pidgin languages which develop as the primary language of a community.

Today, over 160 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages including creoles are spoken. Some of these languages have very few speakers. About 60 of these languages have 150 speakers or more for each language group.

The following data is derived from the 2021 Census:

• 78,656 people speak an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language.
• A significant number of people speak an Australian creole including Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) (7,776 speakers) and Kriol (Australian Creole) (7,478 speakers). 1,444 people indicated that they speak Aboriginal English.
• Other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages with large numbers of speakers are Djambarrpuyngu (3,870 speakers), Pitantjatjara (3,458 speakers) Walpiri (2,624 speakers) and Tiwi (2,103 speakers).
• The most common Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages differ between states and territories reflecting the origins of particular Aboriginal groups and their continuity with their traditional lands.
• Over half (59%) of the Northern Territory’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population speak an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language, by far the greatest proportion of any state or territory. Around 13% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Western Australia and 10% in South Australia speak an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language.
• The Northern Territory has nearly half (46%) of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language speakers, with most of the remainder in Queensland (25%), Western Australia (15%), New South Wales (7%) and South Australia (5%).