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City of BoroondaraCommunity profile

Canterbury

Proficiency in English

In Canterbury in 2021, 285 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 Canterbury'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
Canterbury - Total persons (Usual residence)20212006Change
English proficiencyNumber%City of Boroondara %Number%City of Boroondara %2006 to 2021
Speaks English only5,36970.568.26,55383.175.0-1,185
Speaks English well or very well1,74222.924.885210.817.7+889
Speaks English not well or not at all2853.74.11121.42.7+173
Not stated2152.82.93624.64.6-148
Total population7,611100.0100.07,881100.0100.0-271
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2006 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 Canterbury in 2021 compared to the City of Boroondara shows that there was a higher proportion of people who spoke English only, and a similar proportion of people who spoke another language and English not well or not at all.

Overall, 70.5% of people spoke English only, and 3.7% spoke another language and English not well or not at all, compared with 68.2% and 4.1% respectively for the City of Boroondara.

Emerging groups

The most significant changes in the proficiency in English of the population in this area between 2006 and 2021 were in those speaking:

  • Speaks English only (-1,185 persons)
  • Speaks English well or very well (+889 persons)
  • Speaks English not well or not at all (+173 persons)

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