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AustraliaCommunity profile

Western Australia

Proficiency in English

In Western Australia in 2021, 60,115 people 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 Western 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
Western Australia - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
English proficiencyNumber%Western Australia %Number%Western Australia %2016 to 2021
Speaks English only2,002,77175.375.31,861,03875.275.2+141,733
Speaks English well or very well437,38916.416.4376,55615.215.2+60,833
Speaks English not well or not at all60,1152.32.361,3122.52.5-1,197
Not stated159,7456.06.0175,5117.17.1-15,766
Total population2,660,020100.0100.02,474,417100.0100.0+185,603
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 population in Western Australia in 2021 compared to Western Australia shows that there was a similar proportion of people who spoke English only, as well as a similar proportion of people who spoke another language and English not well or not at all.

Overall, 75.3% of people spoke English only, and 2.3% spoke another language and English not well or not at all, compared with 75.3% and 2.3% respectively for Western Australia.

Emerging groups

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

  • Speaks English only (+141,733 persons)
  • Speaks English well or very well (+60,833 persons)
  • Speaks English not well or not at all (-1,197 persons)

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