Warlpiri
1,627 speakers
Warlpiri is spoken by 1,627 of our residents at home, 45.7% of Central Desert.
We are Central Desert
76 per cent.
Nearly 76 in every 100 Central Desert residents speak a language other than English at home. It is among the highest shares of any council in Northern Territory.
- Our population
- 3,560
- Speak another language
- 2,720
- Languages at home
- 22
- Growth since last census
- −6.2%
Our neighbourhoods run in Warlpiri, Central Anmatyerr and Eastern Arrernte as readily as they do in English. 2,720 of us speak a language other than English at home — a higher share than almost anywhere else in the country, and the ordinary condition of daily life here rather than an exception to it.
In Northern Territory
#7
of 18 Northern Territory councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #12 of 540 nationally.
What makes our community ours
Central Anmatyerr
481 speakers
Central Anmatyerr is spoken by 481 of our residents at home, 13.5% of Central Desert.
Eastern Arrernte
160 speakers
Eastern Arrernte is spoken by 160 of our residents at home, 4.5% of Central Desert.
The languages of Central Desert
22 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
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.
- 011,627+6.5%
- 02481
- 03160-2.4%
- 0495+3067%
- 0577-28.7%
- 0643+65.4%
- 0715+400%
- 089+80.0%
- 096+100%
- 106
Fastest-growing among us
Warlpiri
+6.5% since last census
We share this portrait because Central Desert is, genuinely, not an “average” council — the share here is 2.4 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.
Warlpiri grew 6.5% since the last census, to 1,627 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
2.5% of us were born overseas, across 12 countries.
- 01New Zealand27-12.9%
- 02England25+78.6%
- 03China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)10
- 04France6+20.0%
- 05Ireland5
- 06Thailand5
- 07Fiji4
- 08Malaysia3
- 09Germany3
- 10India3
What we believe
Reported affiliation in Central Desert at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.
- 01Christianity2,384-9.0%
- 02No religion or secular beliefs725+39.4%
- 03Buddhism60%
- 04Hinduism4
- 05Islam0-100%
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.
- WiloraTop language — Kaytetye100%56
- EngawalaTop language — Eastern Anmatyerr95%144
- LajamanuTop language — Warlpiri92%590
- YuelamuTop language — Central Anmatyerr90%140
- NyirripiTop language — Warlpiri87%219
- WillowraTop language — Warlpiri87%194
- LarambaTop language — Central Anmatyerr86%168
- YuendumuTop language — Warlpiri82%597
- AnmatjereTop language — Central Anmatyerr76%321
- AtitjereTop language — Eastern Arrernte71%145
- Ti TreeTop language — Warlpiri47%41
- Hart (NT)Top language — Eastern Arrernte32%93
- Lake MackayTop language — Warlpiri8%12
- 13 suburbs in Central Desert. Percentage is residents speaking a language other than English at home; the figure beneath it is how many people that is.
Where we are
Central Desert 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
- Central Desert
- 76.4%
- Northern Territory
- 32.1%
- Australia
- 21.3%
76.4% of Central Desert 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. 76.4% is 2,720 residents as a share of all 3,560 of us. A further 282 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 84.3%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 83.0%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Central Desert, 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 Central Desert 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 Central Desert.