We are Bunbury

7 per cent.

7 in every 100 Bunbury residents speak a language other than English at home. 2,323 people, in 77 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.

Our population
32,472
Speak another language
2,323
Languages at home
77
Growth since last census
−8.5%

Most of us speak English at home. 2,323 of us do not, across 77 languages, most often Italian, Mandarin and Tagalog. Small communities are the ones a mainstream service misses first and notices last — which is the whole reason to count them.

In Western Australia

#49

of 137 Western Australia councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #199 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Italian

280 speakers

Italian is spoken by 280 of our residents at home, 0.9% of Bunbury.

Mandarin

233 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 233 of our residents at home, 0.7% of Bunbury.

Tagalog

172 speakers

Tagalog is spoken by 172 of our residents at home, 0.5% of Bunbury.

The languages of Bunbury

77 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 Bunbury, covering 1,709 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
    Italian
    280-24.3%
  2. 02
    Mandarin
    233+28.7%
  3. 03
    Tagalog
    172-28.9%
  4. 04
    Filipino
    149-6.9%
  5. 05
    Afrikaans
    104+50.7%
  6. 06
    Spanish
    83+45.6%
  7. 07
    Punjabi
    80+11.1%
  8. 08
    Malayalam
    73+1.4%
  9. 09
    Vietnamese
    73+5.8%
  10. 10
    Nepali
    64+205%

Fastest-growing among us

Mandarin

+28.7% 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. 2,323 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.

Mandarin grew 28.7% since the last census, to 233 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

17.8% of us were born overseas, across 79 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    1,768-3.7%
  2. 02
    New Zealand
    827-3.5%
  3. 03
    Philippines
    450-3.6%
  4. 04
    South Africa
    340+9.0%
  5. 05
    India
    226-16.0%
  6. 06
    Italy
    225-8.9%
  7. 07
    Scotland
    204-1.0%
  8. 08
    Ireland
    152-6.7%
  9. 09
    Zimbabwe
    109+11.2%
  10. 10
    Germany
    104+9.5%

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    No religion or secular beliefs
    15,169+41.7%
  2. 02
    Christianity
    13,698-18.2%
  3. 03
    Buddhism
    302-19.5%
  4. 04
    Islam
    213+9.2%
  5. 05
    Hinduism
    191-1.0%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    4-60.0%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 10 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Bunbury 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

Bunbury
7.2%
Western Australia
17.3%
Australia
21.3%

7.2% of Bunbury 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. 7.2% is 2,323 residents as a share of all 32,472 of us. A further 2,531 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 14.9%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 7.8%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Bunbury, 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 Bunbury 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 Bunbury.