Spanish
27 speakers
Spanish is spoken by 27 of our residents at home, 2.7% of Shark Bay.
We are Shark Bay
7 in every 100 Shark Bay residents speak a language other than English at home. 68 people, in 13 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.
Most of us speak English at home. 68 of us do not, across 13 languages, most often Spanish, French and Vietnamese. Small communities are the ones a mainstream service misses first and notices last — which is the whole reason to count them.
In Western Australia
#54
of 137 Western Australia councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #206 of 540 nationally.
What makes our community ours
27 speakers
Spanish is spoken by 27 of our residents at home, 2.7% of Shark Bay.
8 speakers
French is spoken by 8 of our residents at home, 0.8% of Shark Bay.
8 speakers
Vietnamese is spoken by 8 of our residents at home, 0.8% of Shark Bay.
The languages of Shark Bay
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
6.8% 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. 68 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
12.9% of us were born overseas, across 16 countries.
Reported affiliation in Shark Bay at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.
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.
Where we are
Shark Bay 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
6.8% of Shark Bay 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. 6.8% is 68 residents as a share of all 1,002 of us. A further 178 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 24.6%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 8.3%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Shark Bay, 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 Shark Bay 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 Shark Bay.