Wajarri
35 speakers
Wajarri is spoken by 35 of our residents at home, 3.0% of Meekatharra.
We are Meekatharra
12 per cent.
About 12 in every 100 Meekatharra residents speak a language other than English at home, across 19 languages.
- Our population
- 1,158
- Speak another language
- 139
- Languages at home
- 19
- Growth since last census
- +167.3%
139 of us — 12.0% — speak a language other than English at home, most often Wajarri, Martu Wangka and Mandarin. A share this size is easy to design around by accident, which is precisely how it gets designed out.
In Western Australia
#30
of 137 Western Australia councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #148 of 540 nationally.
What makes our community ours
Martu Wangka
17 speakers
Martu Wangka is spoken by 17 of our residents at home, 1.5% of Meekatharra.
Mandarin
15 speakers
Mandarin is spoken by 15 of our residents at home, 1.3% of Meekatharra.
The languages of Meekatharra
19 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.
Why we publish this
12.0% of us
We share this portrait because a council below the Western Australia average is the one most likely to be planned for as though everybody here reads English. 139 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
10.5% of us were born overseas, across 19 countries.
- 01New Zealand35-20.5%
- 02England20-23.1%
- 03Philippines16+433%
- 04Fiji8
- 05Germany8+60.0%
- 06India7+133%
- 07China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)5+25.0%
- 08Chile4
- 09South Africa40%
- 10South Sudan4
What we believe
Reported affiliation in Meekatharra at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.
- 01No religion or secular beliefs436+27.1%
- 02Christianity368-9.6%
- 03Buddhism8-11.1%
- 04Islam3
Our suburbs
Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 2 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.
- KaralundiTop language — Fijian18%9
- MeekatharraTop language — Wajarri12%130
- 2 suburbs in Meekatharra. Percentage is residents speaking a language other than English at home; the figure beneath it is how many people that is.
Where we are
Meekatharra 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
- Meekatharra
- 12.0%
- Western Australia
- 17.3%
- Australia
- 21.3%
12.0% of Meekatharra residents speak a language other than English at home, against 17.3% for Western 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. 12.0% is 139 residents as a share of all 1,158 of us. A further 288 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 36.9%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 16.0%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Meekatharra, 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 Meekatharra 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 Meekatharra.