We are Weipa

9 per cent.

9 in every 100 Weipa residents speak a language other than English at home. 347 people, in 27 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.

Our population
4,066
Speak another language
347
Languages at home
27
Growth since last census
+27.1%

Most of us speak English at home. 347 of us do not, across 27 languages, most often Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole), Afrikaans and Filipino. Small communities are the ones a mainstream service misses first and notices last — which is the whole reason to count them.

In Queensland

#20

of 76 Queensland councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #184 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Afrikaans

27 speakers

Afrikaans is spoken by 27 of our residents at home, 0.7% of Weipa.

Filipino

21 speakers

Filipino is spoken by 21 of our residents at home, 0.5% of Weipa.

The languages of Weipa

27 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 Weipa, covering 208 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. 0143-51.1%
  2. 0227+800%
  3. 0321+200%
  4. 0420-13.0%
  5. 0517+41.7%
  6. 0612+300%
  7. 0711-38.9%
  8. 0811
  9. 096
  10. 106

Why we publish this

8.5% of us

We share this portrait because a council below the Queensland average is the one most likely to be planned for as though everybody here reads English. 347 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

Where we were born

8.8% of us were born overseas, across 21 countries.

  1. 01
    New Zealand
    93-7.9%
  2. 02
    Papua New Guinea
    59+168%
  3. 03
    Philippines
    58+70.6%
  4. 04
    England
    45-26.2%
  5. 05
    South Africa
    18+80.0%
  6. 06
    Fiji
    15+15.4%
  7. 07
    Thailand
    15-21.1%
  8. 08
    Scotland
    8
  9. 09
    India
    80%
  10. 10
    Ireland
    7+133%

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    No religion or secular beliefs
    1,928+66.4%
  2. 02
    Christianity
    1,508-31.3%
  3. 03
    Buddhism
    27-47.1%
  4. 04
    Hinduism
    25+178%
  5. 05
    Islam
    3

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 4 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Weipa 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

Weipa
8.5%
Queensland
12.2%
Australia
21.3%

8.5% of Weipa residents speak a language other than English at home, against 12.2% for Queensland 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. 8.5% is 347 residents as a share of all 4,066 of us. A further 537 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 21.7%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 9.8%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Weipa, 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 Weipa 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 Weipa.