We are Lake Macquarie

4 per cent.

4 in every 100 Lake Macquarie residents speak a language other than English at home. 9,224 people, in 113 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.

Our population
213,104
Speak another language
9,224
Languages at home
113
Growth since last census
+37.3%

Most of us speak English at home. 9,224 of us do not, across 113 languages, most often Mandarin, Spanish and German. Small communities are the ones a mainstream service misses first and notices last — which is the whole reason to count them.

In New South Wales

#57

of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #280 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Mandarin

690 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 690 of our residents at home, 0.3% of Lake Macquarie.

Spanish

429 speakers

Spanish is spoken by 429 of our residents at home, 0.2% of Lake Macquarie.

German

395 speakers

German is spoken by 395 of our residents at home, 0.2% of Lake Macquarie.

The languages of Lake Macquarie

113 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 Lake Macquarie, covering 5,655 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
    690+52.7%
  2. 02
    Spanish
    429+28.8%
  3. 03
    German
    395+11.9%
  4. 04
    Macedonian
    373-16.0%
  5. 05
    Cantonese
    370+10.4%
  6. 06
    Thai
    356+44.1%
  7. 07
    Afrikaans
    355+173%
  8. 08
    Italian
    354-25.9%
  9. 09
    Hindi
    285+39.7%
  10. 10
    Nepali
    274+585%

Fastest-growing among us

Mandarin

+52.7% since last census

We share this portrait because a council below the New South Wales average is the one most likely to be planned for as though everybody here reads English. 9,224 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.

Mandarin grew 52.7% since the last census, to 690 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

8.8% of us were born overseas, across 119 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    5,414+4.4%
  2. 02
    New Zealand
    2,548+14.6%
  3. 03
    India
    1,012+69.2%
  4. 04
    South Africa
    881+54.6%
  5. 05
    Philippines
    785+41.2%
  6. 06
    Germany
    760-1.2%
  7. 07
    Scotland
    749+1.5%
  8. 08
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    511+15.9%
  9. 09
    United States of America
    454+17.6%
  10. 10
    Netherlands
    409+27.8%

What we believe

Reported affiliation in Lake Macquarie at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.

  1. 01
    Christianity
    107,464-12.2%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    91,718+56.4%
  3. 03
    Buddhism
    1,534+5.6%
  4. 04
    Hinduism
    1,165+104%
  5. 05
    Islam
    783+84.7%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    72+80.0%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 89 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Lake Macquarie 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

Lake Macquarie
4.3%
New South Wales
25.7%
Australia
21.3%

4.3% of Lake Macquarie residents speak a language other than English at home, against 25.7% for New South Wales 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. 4.3% is 9,224 residents as a share of all 213,104 of us. A further 8,273 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 8.2%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 4.5%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Lake Macquarie, 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 Lake Macquarie 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 Lake Macquarie.