We are Charters Towers

2 per cent.

2 in every 100 Charters Towers residents speak a language other than English at home. 207 people, in 34 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.

Our population
11,538
Speak another language
207
Languages at home
34
Growth since last census
+24.0%

Most of us speak English at home. 207 of us do not, across 34 languages, most often Malayalam, Tagalog and Afrikaans. Small communities are the ones a mainstream service misses first and notices last — which is the whole reason to count them.

In Queensland

#66

of 76 Queensland councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #467 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Malayalam

26 speakers

Malayalam is spoken by 26 of our residents at home, 0.2% of Charters Towers.

Tagalog

18 speakers

Tagalog is spoken by 18 of our residents at home, 0.2% of Charters Towers.

Afrikaans

17 speakers

Afrikaans is spoken by 17 of our residents at home, 0.1% of Charters Towers.

The languages of Charters Towers

34 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 Charters Towers, covering 165 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
    Malayalam
    26+550%
  2. 02
    Tagalog
    180%
  3. 03
    Afrikaans
    17
  4. 04
    Filipino
    16+77.8%
  5. 05
    Vietnamese
    16+60.0%
  6. 06
    Tok Pisin (Neomelanesian)
    9+125%
  7. 07
    Japanese
    9+12.5%
  8. 08
    Sinhalese
    9+80.0%
  9. 09
    Shona
    7+133%
  10. 10
    Mandarin
    7

Why we publish this

1.8% of us

We share this portrait because a council below the Queensland average is the one most likely to be planned for as though everybody here reads English. 207 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.

Who we are, beyond language

Where we were born

5.0% of us were born overseas, across 31 countries.

  1. 01
    New Zealand
    183+28.0%
  2. 02
    England
    138+20.0%
  3. 03
    Philippines
    520%
  4. 04
    India
    32+300%
  5. 05
    South Africa
    25+733%
  6. 06
    Papua New Guinea
    24-17.2%
  7. 07
    United States of America
    14
  8. 08
    Scotland
    12-7.7%
  9. 09
    Sri Lanka
    10
  10. 10
    Netherlands
    8

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    Christianity
    5,797-22.3%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    3,844+41.8%
  3. 03
    Buddhism
    39-25.0%
  4. 04
    Hinduism
    27+22.7%
  5. 05
    Islam
    80%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    0-100%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 19 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Charters Towers 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

Charters Towers
1.8%
Queensland
12.2%
Australia
21.3%

1.8% of Charters Towers residents speak a language other than English at home, against 12.2% for Queensland 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. 1.8% is 207 residents as a share of all 11,538 of us. A further 1,556 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 15.3%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 2.1%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Charters Towers, 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 Charters Towers 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 Charters Towers.