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Torres Strait Island, Queensland

The languages of Torres Strait Island

In Torres Strait Island, 82 per cent of residents speak a First Nations language at home, the 2021 Census found, led by Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) and Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Kalaw Lagaw Ya. Only three languages reach one in 100 residents. Torres Strait Island has more than three times the rate of other-language speakers found across Queensland.

Residents
4,101
Speak another language
3,514
Languages at home
10
Change since 2016
−9.8%

What First Nations languages are spoken at home in Torres Strait Island?

After Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole), the most common are Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Kalaw Lagaw Ya and Meriam Mir. Of everyone speaking a language other than English, First Nations speakers make up 96 per cent of them. For 139 people more, the language sits in a broad ABS category without a name.

The ABS’s own post-enumeration survey found the census missed a much larger share of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than of the population overall, so counts here are best read as a floor.

How does Torres Strait Island's language picture differ from Australia as a whole?

Nationally, the share speaking another language is less than half of Torres Strait Island's. Torres Strait Island sits in the lower half of Queensland's councils, at 74th of 77.

Torres Strait Island
85.7%
Australia
21.3%
Queensland
12.2%

Shares are calculated the same way for each area, so the bars compare directly.

See where Torres Strait Island sits on the diversity index.

What are all the languages spoken in Torres Strait Island?

Counts are people who speak the language at home; the chip is their change since 2016. Catch-all ABS groups aren't listed.

Where in Torres Strait Island is English least common at home?

Suburb pages list every language counted in that suburb.

Where is Torres Strait Island on the language map?

The shading shows how many residents speak a multicultural languageany language other than English at home, on ABS ASGS 2021 boundaries. Compare Torres Strait Island with its neighbours on the full map.

Data: ABS Census of Population and Housing 2021, language used at home, summed from Statistical Area Level 2 to council. Changes are against the 2016 Census.

A note on method: 316 residents didn't state a language, and this page doesn't count them as speaking one. That's why 85.7% sits below the 93.4% you'd get by counting every blank, and below 92.8% measured across respondents only.

People with no usual address fall outside any suburb, which is why the national figure here is a fraction under the ABS one. The council figures aren't affected.

Reuse these figures under CC BY 4.0 with credit to LEXIGO Language Map.

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