Tagalog
84 speakers
Tagalog is spoken by 84 of our residents at home, 0.7% of Northam.
We are Northam
4 in every 100 Northam residents speak a language other than English at home. 459 people, in 44 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.
Most of us speak English at home. 459 of us do not, across 44 languages, most often Tagalog, Filipino and Malayalam. Small communities are the ones a mainstream service misses first and notices last — which is the whole reason to count them.
In Western Australia
#78
of 137 Western Australia councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #293 of 540 nationally.
What makes our community ours
84 speakers
Tagalog is spoken by 84 of our residents at home, 0.7% of Northam.
56 speakers
Filipino is spoken by 56 of our residents at home, 0.5% of Northam.
32 speakers
Malayalam is spoken by 32 of our residents at home, 0.3% of Northam.
The languages of Northam
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.
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
4.1% 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. 459 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
15.7% of us were born overseas, across 61 countries.
Reported affiliation in Northam at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.
Our suburbs
Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 10 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.
Where we are
Northam 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
4.1% of Northam 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. 4.1% is 459 residents as a share of all 11,223 of us. A further 1,412 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 16.7%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 4.7%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Northam, 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 Northam 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 Northam.