We are Barkly

49 per cent.

Nearly 49 in every 100 Barkly residents speak a language other than English at home. It is among the highest shares of any council in Northern Territory.

Our population
6,155
Speak another language
3,004
Languages at home
57
Growth since last census
−3.4%

Alyawarr, Warumungu and Warlpiri are spoken here in numbers that shape how the place works. 3,004 of us — 48.8% — speak a language other than English at home, so an English-only notice reaches barely half the households it was addressed to.

In Northern Territory

#11

of 18 Northern Territory councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #36 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Alyawarr

1,707 speakers

Alyawarr is spoken by 1,707 of our residents at home, 27.7% of Barkly.

Warumungu

361 speakers

Warumungu is spoken by 361 of our residents at home, 5.9% of Barkly.

Warlpiri

295 speakers

Warlpiri is spoken by 295 of our residents at home, 4.8% of Barkly.

The languages of Barkly

57 languages carry the conversation at home. Every one of them is spoken here.

Each block below is scaled to the number of people who speak that language at home, and tinted by how fast that community has grown since the last census.

  • Grew 50%+
  • 25%+
  • 10%+
  • Held
  • Slipped
  • Declined 10%+
  • Not comparable
The 18 most spoken languages in Barkly, covering 2,797 speakers. Area is speakers at the 2021 Census; tint is the change since 2016. Every figure is also in the table below.

Every language, in order

Speakers at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016. Broader ABS categories such as “Chinese, nfd” are counted in our totals but left out of this list, so the percentages can exceed the sum of the languages shown.

  1. 01
    Alyawarr
    1,707+26.0%
  2. 02
    Warumungu
    361+28.0%
  3. 03
    Warlpiri
    295+13.0%
  4. 04
    Mudburra
    115+49.4%
  5. 05
    Kaytetye
    45-29.7%
  6. 06
    Nepali
    36+200%
  7. 07
    Malayalam
    35+66.7%
  8. 08
    Warlmanpa
    33+37.5%
  9. 09
    Tagalog
    29+93.3%
  10. 10
    Jingulu
    21+31.3%

Fastest-growing among us

Warumungu

+28.0% since last census

We share this portrait because Barkly is, genuinely, not an “average” council — the share here is 1.5 times the Northern Territory figure. Services designed for the median Northern Territory resident arrive here in the wrong language. This almanac exists so that nobody writing policy about us — federal, state, corporate or media — can say they did not know.

Warumungu grew 28.0% since the last census, to 361 speakers. A community growing at that rate is one whose translation needs are ahead of the last set of figures anyone commissioned.

Who we are, beyond language

Where we were born

7.5% of us were born overseas, across 29 countries.

  1. 01
    Philippines
    73+2.8%
  2. 02
    India
    65+41.3%
  3. 03
    England
    65+25.0%
  4. 04
    New Zealand
    61-30.7%
  5. 05
    Nepal
    30+150%
  6. 06
    Zimbabwe
    28+75.0%
  7. 07
    Bangladesh
    15
  8. 08
    Indonesia
    13-13.3%
  9. 09
    Fiji
    13-35.0%
  10. 10
    South Africa
    13+225%

What we believe

Reported affiliation in Barkly at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.

  1. 01
    Christianity
    3,341-5.3%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    1,905+12.6%
  3. 03
    Hinduism
    66+175%
  4. 04
    Islam
    32+60.0%
  5. 05
    Buddhism
    30-6.3%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 13 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Barkly shaded by the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. Boundaries are ABS ASGS 2021. See every council on one map.

In context

Barkly
48.8%
Northern Territory
32.1%
Australia
21.3%

48.8% of Barkly residents speak a language other than English at home, against 32.1% for Northern Territory and 21.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 Census.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2021, language used at home by Statistical Area Level 2, aggregated to Local Government Area. Growth compares 2021 against the 2016 Census.

How the headline share is counted. 48.8% is 3,004 residents as a share of all 6,155 of us. A further 560 did not state a language at all, and we do not count them as speaking one — counting every non-response as a non-English speaker would put this figure at 57.9%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 53.7%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Barkly, it is almost certainly one of those two.

Two further caveats we would rather state than bury. Summing suburbs omits residents not allocated to one — no usual address, migratory and unincorporated areas — so national totals sit a little under the ABS published figures; the Barkly figures on this page are unaffected. And ranked language lists exclude ABS residual categories such as “Chinese, nfd”, which are not languages anyone can order a translation in; they remain inside the headline total.

Need this community reached in its own languages? Talk to us about translation in Barkly.