It’s no secret that Australia is linguistically and culturally diverse and with influences from over 160 spoken languages, the Australian identity is continually evolving.
Throughout history, immigration patterns have determined the most widely spoken languages in Australia. For example, following the wave of European settlement, languages such as German and Greek made up a significant proportion of Australia’s non-English speaking community. Whereas in recent years, evolving migration patterns are revealed in the changes we see on the Australian Bureau of Statistics list of languages other than English spoken at home. The top ten list from the 2016 census now reflects the strong community groups of Chinese and Arabic speaking communities:
| 1 | Mandarin |
| 2 | Arabic |
| 3 | Cantonese |
| 4 | Vietnamese |
| 5 | Italian |
| 6 | Greek |
| 7 | Tagalog |
| 8 | Hindi |
| 9 | Spanish |
| 10 | Punjabi |
These top ten languages clearly indicate the big picture of Australians from a non-English speaking background. However there’s a lot more to consider when thinking about servicing people’s need for information. For example, different age demographics, geographical location and cultural limitations need to be considered in order to reach a suitable target audience. If you seek to reach young mothers from a non-English speaking background, it may be better to pitch to newly arrived communities who can tend to have younger populations, rather than simply targeting the communities listed in the top ten.
So, while the top ten languages illustrate how migrant communities have helped shape Australia, considering more specific factors will enable you to reach your most suitable multicultural audience. Ensuring your communications are culturally relevant is key.
Chat to us to find out how taking a multicultural approach to your marketing and communications will benefit your organisation.
