We are Randwick

27 per cent.

Nearly 27 in every 100 Randwick residents speak a language other than English at home. It is among the highest shares of any council in New South Wales.

Our population
132,167
Speak another language
35,322
Languages at home
126
Growth since last census
−17.4%

One in 4 of us speaks a language other than English at home: 35k people, most often Mandarin, Greek and Cantonese. That is not a fringe of the community. It is a standing share of every audience anyone here is trying to reach.

In New South Wales

#19

of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #77 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Mandarin

4,904 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 4,904 of our residents at home, 3.7% of Randwick.

Greek

4,036 speakers

Greek is spoken by 4,036 of our residents at home, 3.1% of Randwick.

Cantonese

3,074 speakers

Cantonese is spoken by 3,074 of our residents at home, 2.3% of Randwick.

The languages of Randwick

126 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 Randwick, covering 29,275 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
    4,904-51.6%
  2. 02
    Greek
    4,036-11.0%
  3. 03
    Cantonese
    3,074-25.4%
  4. 04
    Spanish
    2,545+12.3%
  5. 05
    French
    2,419+24.7%
  6. 06
    Portuguese
    2,303+56.1%
  7. 07
    Indonesian
    1,833-20.0%
  8. 08
    Russian
    1,622-7.0%
  9. 09
    Italian
    1,390-13.1%
  10. 10
    Arabic
    849-28.3%

Fastest-growing among us

Portuguese

+56.1% since last census

We share this portrait because Randwick is, genuinely, not an “average” council. Services designed for the median New South Wales 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.

Portuguese grew 56.1% since the last census, to 2,303 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

37.1% of us were born overseas, across 144 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    7,215+15.3%
  2. 02
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    4,163-58.0%
  3. 03
    Ireland
    3,309+16.6%
  4. 04
    New Zealand
    2,512-6.6%
  5. 05
    Indonesia
    1,977-17.1%
  6. 06
    Brazil
    1,955+89.1%
  7. 07
    South Africa
    1,776+3.9%
  8. 08
    Malaysia
    1,543-17.2%
  9. 09
    India
    1,504+16.9%
  10. 10
    France
    1,376+38.3%

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    Christianity
    61,791-6.4%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    49,762+10.6%
  3. 03
    Judaism
    5,479+8.7%
  4. 04
    Buddhism
    3,095-18.7%
  5. 05
    Islam
    1,883-15.6%
  6. 06
    Hinduism
    1,509+16.3%

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

Randwick 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

Randwick
26.7%
New South Wales
25.7%
Australia
21.3%

26.7% of Randwick 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. 26.7% is 35,322 residents as a share of all 132,167 of us. A further 8,108 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 32.9%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 28.5%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Randwick, 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 Randwick 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 Randwick.