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AustraliaCommunity profile

Regional Australia

Proficiency in English

In Regional Australia in 2021, 45,624 females who spoke a language other than English at home reported difficulty speaking English.

Proficiency in English measures the self-assessed proficiency in spoken English of people who speak a language other than English at home. The data, when viewed with other ethnic and cultural indicators, such as Ancestry, Country of Birth, Language Spoken at Home and Religion, reflects Regional Australia's ethnic composition and how long the overseas born have been in Australia. This helps service providers determine whether they need to communicate with the local population in languages other than English.

Q:

Derived from the Census question:

'How well does the person speak English?'

Proficiency in English
Regional Australia - Total females (Usual residence)20212016Change
English proficiencyNumber%Greater Hobart %Number%Greater Hobart %2016 to 2021
Speaks English only3,601,70185.383.03,359,54585.686.6+242,156
Speaks English well or very well310,6947.411.5248,6626.36.8+62,032
Speaks English not well or not at all45,6241.11.340,9441.01.2+4,680
Not stated263,1336.24.1275,3737.05.4-12,240
Total population4,221,152100.0100.03,924,524100.0100.0+296,628
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information

Dominant groups

Analysis of the proficiency in English data of the female population in Regional Australia in 2021 compared to Greater Hobart shows that there was a higher proportion of females who spoke English only, and a similar proportion of females who spoke another language and English not well or not at all.

Overall, 85.3% of females spoke English only, and 1.1% spoke another language and English not well or not at all, compared with 83.0% and 1.3% respectively for Greater Hobart.

Emerging groups

The most significant changes in the proficiency in English of the female population in this area between 2016 and 2021 were in those speaking:

  • Speaks English only (+242,156 females)
  • Speaks English well or very well (+62,032 females)
  • Speaks English not well or not at all (+4,680 females)

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