Proficiency in English is an important indicator for the Overseas-born population. This may indicate the level to which translation services or communication in other languages is required for each culturally diverse community.

Typically, populations which migrated many years ago may have better English proficiency than recent migrants, and naturally migrants from English speaking countries (or countries where English is widely spoken as a second language) could be expected to have good English proficiency. Proficiency is a self-assessment by the respondent or their family, there is no objective review of this characteristic, so numbers should be treated as a guide only. To further build this story, English proficiency should be looked at in conjunction with Year of Arrival, Language Spoken at Home and Age Structure.