What Languages Are Spoken In Australia? (Find Out!)

English is the most common language in Australia, with 76% of households exclusively speaking the language. Over 400 languages in total are spoken across all Australian territories, although most of these are indigenous languages that are endangered and spoken only by a handful of people. Chinese is the second-most widely spoken language in the country, followed by Arabic and Asian and European languages.

The country of Australia is in fact an entire continent with many culturally and linguistically diverse peoples.

Australia has no official language, although English is the de facto national language and is used for nearly everything in the country.

Even so, it was reported in 2018 that one million Australians could not speak English.

Immigrants, mostly of European and Asian origin, are usually bilingual but many are so entrenched in their own cultural groups in Australia that they don’t learn the common language.

In This Article

How many languages are spoken in Australia?

Australia is home to over 400 languages, making it one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world.

The majority of these languages are native Aboriginal and Torres Strait languages that have died out since European settlement of the country.

Currently, there are only 160 languages still being spoken by indigenous tribes of Australia, with 50,000 speakers speaking them as their home language.

The other languages either became extinct as tribes were wiped out or as tribe members assimilated into other populations.

There are also several European and Asian languages spoken in the country as more immigrants arrived from other countries.

It is uncertain how many of these languages are in the country, but many are growing quickly and outpacing indigenous languages.

What are the most spoken languages in Australia?

English is by far the most spoken language in Australia, with 77% of people speaking it as their home language.

English first entered the country with the British settlement of a penal colony to keep prisoners after the United States War of Independence at the end of the 18^th century.

Australian English has developed from British English to become its own variety of English.

It still preserves most of the vocabulary and grammar, but it has a very distinct accent.

Australian English also has a unique vernacular called “strine” developed from the Cockney accents of London and Ireland.

Mass Chinese immigration has caused Chinese to grow immensely in Australia, making it the second-most common language after English.

An estimated 4% of Australians speak Chinese (both Cantonese and Mandarin) as a home language.

The Chinese immigrants often form closed communities in the country, and it’s believed that many of the one million Australians that don’t speak English are in these communities.

Other languages common to Australia, in descending order of the number of speakers, are:

Around 370,000 speakers, 1.4% of the population, common in New South Wales.
Around 320,000 speakers, 1.3% of the population, common in Victoria and Queensland.
Around 240,000 speakers, 0.9% of the population, common in Queensland and Tasmania.
Around 230,000 speakers, 0.9% of the population, common in Victoria, South Australia, and Northern Territory.
Around 230,000 speakers, 0.9% of the population, common in South Australia and Western Australia.
Around 370,000 speakers, 1.4% of the population, common in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Around 370,000 speakers, 1.4% of the population, common in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

What are Australian Aboriginal languages?

The Aborigines are one of the two distinct indigenous groups in Australia (the other being Torres Strait Islander peoples).

They were primarily a hunting and gathering society, with only small-scale practices of agriculture.

They were believed to have come from South Asia by sea and settled the continent many millennia ago.

Many Aborigine tribes can be found all across Australia, from tropical rainforests to arid deserts.

It is estimated that there were between 300,000 and 1,000,000 Aborigines in Australia by the time Europeans settled there at the end of the 18^th century.

Over 400 indigenous languages were spoken in Australia.

Of these, 250 were Aborigine, and these languages are thought to have had over 500 dialects.

The most common Aborigine language currently spoken in Australia is Kriol, although it contains many English words spelled in a phonetic style.

Today there are over 150 indigenous languages spoken in Australia.

However, only 60 of these languages have a significant amount of speakers.

Many of these languages are threatened by extinction.

Over half of Australia’s indigenous language speakers live in the Northern Territory.

According to the 2021 Australian Census, 80,000 people speak an indigenous Australian language (including both Aborigine and Torres Strait Islander languages).

The following are the most common Aborigine languages:

Kriol: 7,500 speakers
Western Desert languages: 7,400 speakers
Arrernte: 4,100 speakers
Warlpiri: 2,304 speakers
Tiwi: 2,040 speakers

Which European languages are common in Australia?

Beyond English, there are many other European languages with significant numbers in the country.

The most common European language other than English is Greek. Greek Australians are one of the biggest groups of the Greek diaspora in the world, with 1.7% of the Australian population stating that they have Greek ancestry in the 2021 Census.

Italian is a close second, as many Italian immigrants entered the country in the 19^th century.

Most of them came looking for work and new opportunities following the deprivations caused by war, poverty, crop failure, and natural disaster.

The majority of migrants were seasonal workers from rural communities.

There are also many Spanish speakers in Australia.

The first Spanish-speaking migrants entered the country looking for fortune in the Victoria goldfields following a 19^th-century gold rush.

Recently, the majority of Spanish-speaking migrants come not from Spain, but from Latin American countries.

Australia is a country defined by two groups: the indigenous tribes and the immigrants from around the world.

Given its colorful and spotted past, Australia has much healing to do, and appreciating the diversity of languages is a great first step in this process.

Many languages other than English are now being taught in public schools.

We can all do well to learn a little about Australia’s languages and their importance.

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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