Languages of Australia

"Australian language" redirects here. For the Polynesian language spoken on the Austral Islands, see Austral language.

Languages of Australia
OfficialNone at federal level
MainEnglish
Indigenous120 to 170 Indigenous Australian languages and dialects
VernacularAustralian English, Australian Aboriginal English
MinorityOver 300
SignedAuslan and several others

The languages of Australia are the major historic and current languages used in Australia and its offshore islands. Over 250 Australian Aboriginal languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact.[1] English is the majority language of Australia today. Although English has no official legal status, it is the de facto official and national language.[2][3] Australian English is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon,[4] and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling.[5]

Around 120 to 170 Indigenous languages and dialects are spoken today, but many of these are endangered. Creole languages such Kriol and Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) are the most widely-spoken Indigenous languages. Other distinctively Australian languages include the Australian sign language Auslan, Indigenous sign languages, and Norf'k-Pitcairn, spoken mostly on Norfolk Island.

Major waves of immigration following the Second World War and in the 21st century considerably increased the number of community languages spoken in Australia. In 2021, 5.8 million people used a language other than English at home. The most common of these languages were Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Punjabi, Greek, Italian and Hindi.[6]

  1. ^ Australian Government, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications (2020). National Indigenous Languages Report. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. p. 13.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "Pluralist Nations: Pluralist Language Policies?". 1995 Global Cultural Diversity Conference Proceedings, Sydney. Department of Immigration and Citizenship. Archived from the original on 20 December 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2009. "English has no de jure status but it is so entrenched as the common language that it is de facto the official language as well as the national language."
  3. ^ Ward, Rowena (2019). "'National' and 'Official' Languages Across the Independent Asia-Pacific". Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies. 16 (1/2): 83–4. doi:10.5130/portalv16i1/2.6510 (inactive 1 November 2024). The use of English in Australia is one example of both a de facto national and official language: it is widely used and is the language of government and the courts, but has never been legally designated as the country's official language.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  4. ^ Moore, Bruce. "The Vocabulary Of Australian English" (PDF). National Museum of Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  5. ^ "The Macquarie Dictionary", Fourth Edition. The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, 2005.
  6. ^ "Census of Population and Housing: Cultural diversity data summary, 2021, Table 5. Language used at home by state and territory". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2024.