We are Glen Eira

30 per cent.

Nearly 30 in every 100 Glen Eira residents speak a language other than English at home. It is among the highest shares of any council in Victoria.

Our population
142,569
Speak another language
43,329
Languages at home
119
Growth since last census
+4.8%

One in 3 of us speaks a language other than English at home: 43k people, most often Mandarin, Greek and Russian. That is not a fringe of the community. It is a standing share of every audience anyone here is trying to reach.

In Victoria

#15

of 79 Victoria councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #70 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Mandarin

8,358 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 8,358 of our residents at home, 5.9% of Glen Eira.

Greek

5,326 speakers

Greek is spoken by 5,326 of our residents at home, 3.7% of Glen Eira.

Russian

4,540 speakers

Russian is spoken by 4,540 of our residents at home, 3.2% of Glen Eira.

The languages of Glen Eira

119 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 Glen Eira, covering 35,816 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
    Mandarin
    8,358+7.2%
  2. 02
    Greek
    5,326-0.6%
  3. 03
    Russian
    4,540-2.8%
  4. 04
    Hebrew
    2,898+4.0%
  5. 05
    Hindi
    1,8010%
  6. 06
    Cantonese
    1,798+5.7%
  7. 07
    Italian
    1,479-14.9%
  8. 08
    Spanish
    1,198+40.8%
  9. 09
    French
    1,164+11.7%
  10. 10
    Vietnamese
    1,115+76.4%

Fastest-growing among us

Nepali

+99.6% since last census

We share this portrait because Glen Eira is, genuinely, not an “average” council. Services designed for the median Victoria 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.

Nepali grew 99.6% since the last census, to 467 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

35.1% of us were born overseas, across 129 countries.

  1. 01
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    6,791-4.0%
  2. 02
    India
    6,504+4.4%
  3. 03
    England
    3,920+4.7%
  4. 04
    South Africa
    3,444+10.6%
  5. 05
    New Zealand
    2,154+7.0%
  6. 06
    Greece
    2,0290%
  7. 07
    Israel
    1,9910%
  8. 08
    Malaysia
    1,376+32.3%
  9. 09
    Ukraine
    1,343+4.8%
  10. 10
    Russian Federation
    1,158-4.8%

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    No religion or secular beliefs
    54,990+25.4%
  2. 02
    Christianity
    46,691-4.4%
  3. 03
    Judaism
    23,202+8.5%
  4. 04
    Hinduism
    6,422+13.6%
  5. 05
    Buddhism
    3,098+6.0%
  6. 06
    Islam
    1,150+28.3%

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.

Where we are

Glen Eira 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

Glen Eira
30.4%
Victoria
26.6%
Australia
21.3%

30.4% of Glen Eira residents speak a language other than English at home, against 26.6% for Victoria 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. 30.4% is 43,329 residents as a share of all 142,569 of us. A further 4,885 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 33.8%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 31.5%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Glen Eira, 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 Glen Eira 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 Glen Eira.