We are Sutherland

13 per cent.

About 13 in every 100 Sutherland residents speak a language other than English at home, across 113 languages.

Our population
227,430
Speak another language
29,008
Languages at home
113
Growth since last census
+12.9%

29k of us — 12.8% — speak a language other than English at home, most often Greek, Mandarin and Cantonese. A share this size is easy to design around by accident, which is precisely how it gets designed out.

In New South Wales

#32

of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #142 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Greek

4,183 speakers

Greek is spoken by 4,183 of our residents at home, 1.8% of Sutherland.

Mandarin

3,686 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 3,686 of our residents at home, 1.6% of Sutherland.

Cantonese

2,290 speakers

Cantonese is spoken by 2,290 of our residents at home, 1.0% of Sutherland.

The languages of Sutherland

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 Sutherland, covering 23,701 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
    Greek
    4,183+3.8%
  2. 02
    Mandarin
    3,686+22.1%
  3. 03
    Cantonese
    2,290+9.8%
  4. 04
    Arabic
    2,197+14.2%
  5. 05
    Spanish
    1,897+26.3%
  6. 06
    Italian
    1,487-13.2%
  7. 07
    Russian
    1,368+49.0%
  8. 08
    Macedonian
    1,251+19.4%
  9. 09
    Portuguese
    948+62.6%
  10. 10
    Croatian
    585+12.5%

Fastest-growing among us

Serbian

+69.3% 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. 29k 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.

Serbian grew 69.3% since the last census, to 425 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

16.7% of us were born overseas, across 125 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    8,241+4.7%
  2. 02
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    3,425+16.2%
  3. 03
    New Zealand
    3,091-4.5%
  4. 04
    South Africa
    1,309+24.4%
  5. 05
    Philippines
    1,291+18.7%
  6. 06
    India
    1,108+11.2%
  7. 07
    Greece
    1,081+15.0%
  8. 08
    Italy
    1,060+9.4%
  9. 09
    Scotland
    857+7.7%
  10. 10
    Ireland
    840+24.3%

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    Christianity
    134,559-7.0%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    77,975+45.9%
  3. 03
    Buddhism
    2,531+9.9%
  4. 04
    Islam
    1,973+36.7%
  5. 05
    Hinduism
    1,341+17.3%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    233+26.6%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 42 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Sutherland 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

Sutherland
12.8%
New South Wales
25.7%
Australia
21.3%

12.8% of Sutherland 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. 12.8% is 29,008 residents as a share of all 227,430 of us. A further 7,683 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 16.1%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 13.2%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Sutherland, 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 Sutherland 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 Sutherland.