Punjabi
3,469 speakers
Its speaker count has more than tripled since 2016.
91st of 542 local government areas for language diversity
Cardinia's languages and how they're changing
At the 2021 Census, 17 per cent of residents in Cardinia spoke a language other than English at home, most often Punjabi, followed by Sinhalese. Of the top five, Punjabi has more than tripled since 2016. Cardinia's share is well under the share for the City of Melbourne.
- Residents
- 117,329
- Speak another language
- 19,624
- Languages at home
- 129
- Change since 2016
- +107.2%
How quickly are Cardinia's languages changing?
Since 2016, Punjabi has more than tripled. That's part of a wider rise: more than a quarter more residents speak another language at home than in 2016.
Which languages are spoken most in Cardinia today?
Punjabi leads, and the next two follow in order.
How does Cardinia compare with Victoria now?
Victoria sits a little above Cardinia. In Victoria, 26 councils rank higher.
- Cardinia
- 16.7%
- Victoria
- 26.6%
- City of Melbourne
- 45.0%
Shares are calculated the same way for each area, so the bars compare directly.
How has each of Cardinia's top languages changed?
Counts are people who speak the language at home; the chip is their change since 2016. Catch-all ABS groups aren't listed.
How do Cardinia's suburbs compare?
Officer and Avonsleigh sit at opposite ends.
Pick a suburb to see its languages in full.
- OfficerLed by Sinhalese31%5,508
- Officer SouthLed by Punjabi26%279
- PakenhamLed by Punjabi22%11,788
- Beaconsfield (Vic.)Led by Sinhalese12%850
- Cora LynnLed by Italian9%20
- Pakenham SouthLed by Tamil9%23
- Guys HillLed by Mandarin7%26
- DalmoreLed by Italian7%11
- CataniLed by Wiradjuri5%16
- Pakenham UpperLed by Italian5%57
- DewhurstLed by Swiss, so described5%7
- Nar Nar GoonLed by Punjabi5%48
- IonaLed by Portuguese5%16
- Emerald (Vic.)Led by Spanish4%261
- Koo Wee RupLed by Italian4%161
- Beaconsfield UpperLed by Italian4%114
- CardiniaLed by Greek3%15
- ClematisLed by Greek3%11
- BaylesLed by Nepali3%14
- GembrookLed by Italian3%82
- YannathanLed by Tagalog3%8
- Cockatoo (Vic.)Led by German3%131
- TynongLed by German3%19
- GarfieldLed by Croatian2%47
- Lang LangLed by Arabic2%42
- BunyipLed by Italian1%44
- Heath HillLed by Italian1%3
- MaryknollLed by Spanish1%6
- TonimbukLed by Polish1%3
- Tynong NorthLed by German1%4
- Nar Nar Goon NorthLed by Tagalog1%7
- AvonsleighLed by Romanian0%3
- Caldermeade0%0
- Garfield North0%0
- Each percentage is the share of a suburb speaking a language other than English at home, over the number of people. 34 suburbs in all.
What do birthplaces show about Cardinia?
The largest group born overseas comes from India.
Country of birth
21.5% born overseas, across 131 countries.
- 01India5,125+208%
- 02England4,292+1.9%
- 03Sri Lanka2,233+154%
- 04New Zealand1,895+15.9%
- 05Philippines1,085+90.7%
- 06Pakistan693+593%
- 07China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)612+167%
- 08Scotland585+10.6%
- 09South Africa580+37.1%
- 10Netherlands503-3.6%
Religious affiliation
Reported affiliation, with the change since 2016.
- 01No religion or secular beliefs52,559+50.9%
- 02Christianity45,572-3.0%
- 03Hinduism3,258+190%
- 04Islam3,075+224%
- 05Buddhism2,759+96.8%
- 06Judaism47-2.1%
Where is Cardinia on the language map?
Shade reflects the share speaking a multicultural languageany language other than English at home; council boundaries are from the ABS ASGS 2021. Explore the full Language Map.
Data: ABS Census of Population and Housing 2021, language used at home, summed from Statistical Area Level 2 to council. Changes are against the 2016 Census.
A note on method: 6,024 residents didn't state a language, and this page doesn't count them as speaking one. That's why 16.7% sits below the 21.9% you'd get by counting every blank, and below 17.6% measured across respondents only.
People with no usual address fall outside any suburb, which is why the national figure here is a fraction under the ABS one. The council figures aren't affected.
Reuse these figures under CC BY 4.0 with credit to LEXIGO Language Map.
Planning material for residents here? Start a conversation about translation.