We are Bassendean

12 per cent.

About 12 in every 100 Bassendean residents speak a language other than English at home, across 89 languages.

Our population
15,662
Speak another language
1,927
Languages at home
89
Growth since last census
−6.5%

1,927 of us — 12.3% — speak a language other than English at home, most often Italian, Vietnamese and Mandarin. A share this size is easy to design around by accident, which is precisely how it gets designed out.

In Western Australia

#29

of 137 Western Australia councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #147 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Italian

187 speakers

Italian is spoken by 187 of our residents at home, 1.2% of Bassendean.

Vietnamese

169 speakers

Vietnamese is spoken by 169 of our residents at home, 1.1% of Bassendean.

Mandarin

159 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 159 of our residents at home, 1.0% of Bassendean.

The languages of Bassendean

89 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 Bassendean, covering 1,300 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. 01187-28.1%
  2. 02169+1.8%
  3. 03159-9.7%
  4. 0483+7.8%
  5. 05820%
  6. 0677-7.2%
  7. 0768-31.3%
  8. 0864-5.9%
  9. 0956+107%
  10. 1050+56.3%

Fastest-growing among us

Vietnamese

+1.8% since last census

We share this portrait because a council below the Western Australia average is the one most likely to be planned for as though everybody here reads English. 1,927 of us do not, at home, and a service that reaches everyone except them has not reached everyone. This almanac exists so that the number is on the record before the decision is made.

Vietnamese grew 1.8% since the last census, to 169 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

24.8% of us were born overseas, across 87 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    1,0540%
  2. 02
    New Zealand
    418-6.1%
  3. 03
    India
    3140%
  4. 04
    Philippines
    176+12.8%
  5. 05
    Italy
    152-1.9%
  6. 06
    Vietnam
    150+15.4%
  7. 07
    Ireland
    140+7.7%
  8. 08
    South Africa
    112+21.7%
  9. 09
    Scotland
    110-17.3%
  10. 10
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    102-13.6%

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    No religion or secular beliefs
    7,506+38.2%
  2. 02
    Christianity
    6,493-12.7%
  3. 03
    Buddhism
    304-5.9%
  4. 04
    Hinduism
    188-6.9%
  5. 05
    Islam
    172-9.9%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    0-100%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 3 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Bassendean 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

Bassendean
12.3%
Western Australia
17.3%
Australia
21.3%

12.3% of Bassendean residents speak a language other than English at home, against 17.3% for Western Australia 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. 12.3% is 1,927 residents as a share of all 15,662 of us. A further 880 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 17.9%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 13.0%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Bassendean, 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 Bassendean 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 Bassendean.