Non-English Speaking Background (NESB)

NESB stands for Non-English Speaking Background. It was the standard Australian Government term used from the 1970s through to the late 1990s to classify people who came from countries where English was not the dominant language. The term appeared across census data, government policy, service delivery frameworks, and funding criteria for decades.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics introduced CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) in 1999 as a replacement for NESB. The shift was driven by several criticisms of the NESB framing. The term defined people by what they lacked (English) rather than what they brought (cultural and linguistic richness). It grouped together vastly different communities under a single deficit-based label. And it became increasingly inaccurate as second and third generation Australians from migrant backgrounds spoke fluent English but still identified strongly with their cultural heritage.

Despite being officially retired, NESB persists in several important contexts. Older legislation and regulations still reference NESB, and some government programs established under NESB-era policy frameworks retain the terminology in their founding documents. Academic research published before 1999 uses NESB extensively, and researchers citing historical studies must engage with the term. Some community organisations, particularly those established in the 1980s and 1990s, continue to use NESB in their governance documents and service descriptions.

The evolution of terminology from NESB to CALD, and more recently to CARM (Culturally and Racially Marginalised), reflects an ongoing conversation in Australia about how to describe and engage with the country's diversity. Each term carries different assumptions about what matters most: language proficiency (NESB), cultural and linguistic difference (CALD), or the experience of racial and cultural marginalisation (CARM).

For organisations working in translation and multicultural communication, understanding this terminology evolution is practical, not just academic. Grant applications, tender responses, and policy submissions may reference any of these terms depending on the age and context of the framework being addressed.

LEXIGO provides translation and multicultural communication services across all of these frameworks, supporting organisations that work with NESB, CALD, and CARM communities across 171 languages.

NESB still appears in older policy documents, legislation, funding criteria, and academic literature. Organisations working in settlement services, aged care, and community engagement regularly encounter NESB in legacy frameworks and historical reporting. Understanding what the term means, why it was replaced, and how it relates to current terminology like CALD and CARM is essential for navigating these contexts accurately.

For language access planning and multicultural service delivery, the shift from NESB to CALD to CARM also signals a broader evolution in how Australia thinks about diversity. Organisations that understand this trajectory are better positioned to align their communications with current expectations while still engaging with historical frameworks where necessary.