We are Charles Sturt

26 per cent.

Nearly 26 in every 100 Charles Sturt residents speak a language other than English at home. It is among the highest shares of any council in South Australia.

Our population
122,052
Speak another language
31,256
Languages at home
130
Growth since last census
+8.3%

One in 4 of us speaks a language other than English at home: 31k people, most often Italian, Greek and Vietnamese. That is not a fringe of the community. It is a standing share of every audience anyone here is trying to reach.

In South Australia

#10

of 70 South Australia councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #83 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Italian

4,619 speakers

Italian is spoken by 4,619 of our residents at home, 3.8% of Charles Sturt.

Greek

4,546 speakers

Greek is spoken by 4,546 of our residents at home, 3.7% of Charles Sturt.

Vietnamese

3,351 speakers

Vietnamese is spoken by 3,351 of our residents at home, 2.7% of Charles Sturt.

The languages of Charles Sturt

130 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 Charles Sturt, covering 24,952 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
    4,619-16.3%
  2. 02
    Greek
    4,546-2.3%
  3. 03
    Vietnamese
    3,351+14.1%
  4. 04
    Punjabi
    2,067+99.3%
  5. 05
    Serbian
    1,485+11.9%
  6. 06
    Mandarin
    1,480-9.5%
  7. 07
    Arabic
    1,131+30.0%
  8. 08
    Cantonese
    780+9.9%
  9. 09
    Spanish
    725+66.3%
  10. 10
    Hindi
    680+40.8%

Fastest-growing among us

Punjabi

+99.3% since last census

We share this portrait because Charles Sturt is, genuinely, not an “average” council — the share here is 1.5 times the South Australia figure. Services designed for the median South Australia 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.

Punjabi grew 99.3% since the last census, to 2,067 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

26.0% of us were born overseas, across 140 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    4,386+4.6%
  2. 02
    India
    4,157+56.5%
  3. 03
    Italy
    3,145-6.6%
  4. 04
    Vietnam
    2,631+18.2%
  5. 05
    Greece
    1,670-5.5%
  6. 06
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    1,153-15.0%
  7. 07
    Philippines
    1,108+31.7%
  8. 08
    New Zealand
    739+0.7%
  9. 09
    Germany
    7130%
  10. 10
    Scotland
    644+11.0%

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    Christianity
    60,410-3.3%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    46,353+37.4%
  3. 03
    Islam
    3,265+29.2%
  4. 04
    Buddhism
    3,121+0.9%
  5. 05
    Hinduism
    2,289+58.0%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    28+75.0%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 38 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Charles Sturt 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

Charles Sturt
25.6%
South Australia
16.9%
Australia
21.3%

25.6% of Charles Sturt residents speak a language other than English at home, against 16.9% for South 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. 25.6% is 31,256 residents as a share of all 122,052 of us. A further 4,457 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 29.3%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 26.6%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Charles Sturt, 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 Charles Sturt 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 Charles Sturt.