We are West Torrens

31 per cent.

Nearly 31 in every 100 West Torrens residents speak a language other than English at home. It is among the highest shares of any council in South Australia.

Our population
56,173
Speak another language
17,353
Languages at home
111
Growth since last census
+7.0%

One in 3 of us speaks a language other than English at home: 17k people, most often Greek, Mandarin and Punjabi. That is not a fringe of the community. It is a standing share of every audience anyone here is trying to reach.

In South Australia

#7

of 70 South Australia councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #68 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Greek

3,263 speakers

Greek is spoken by 3,263 of our residents at home, 5.8% of West Torrens.

Mandarin

1,805 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 1,805 of our residents at home, 3.2% of West Torrens.

Punjabi

1,793 speakers

Punjabi is spoken by 1,793 of our residents at home, 3.2% of West Torrens.

The languages of West Torrens

111 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 West Torrens, covering 14,335 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
    3,263-6.8%
  2. 02
    Mandarin
    1,805-9.1%
  3. 03
    Punjabi
    1,793+70.8%
  4. 04
    Italian
    1,390-21.6%
  5. 05
    Nepali
    1,215+198%
  6. 06
    Hindi
    840+9.7%
  7. 07
    Cantonese
    625-5.3%
  8. 08
    Arabic
    587-5.5%
  9. 09
    Vietnamese
    450+19.0%
  10. 10
    Spanish
    417+63.5%

Fastest-growing among us

Nepali

+197.8% since last census

We share this portrait because West Torrens is, genuinely, not an “average” council — the share here is 1.8 times the South Australia figure. Services designed for the median South Australia 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.

Nepali grew 197.8% since the last census, to 1,215 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

30.4% of us were born overseas, across 115 countries.

  1. 01
    India
    3,477+34.6%
  2. 02
    England
    1,595+3.8%
  3. 03
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    1,468-22.5%
  4. 04
    Greece
    1,227-8.8%
  5. 05
    Nepal
    1,219+200%
  6. 06
    Italy
    957-14.9%
  7. 07
    Philippines
    653+8.5%
  8. 08
    Vietnam
    443+24.8%
  9. 09
    Malaysia
    404-5.6%
  10. 10
    New Zealand
    3530%

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    Christianity
    24,733-6.7%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    21,838+30.4%
  3. 03
    Hinduism
    3,237+72.8%
  4. 04
    Islam
    1,603+1.8%
  5. 05
    Buddhism
    1,192+9.7%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    47+56.7%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 21 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

West Torrens 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

West Torrens
30.9%
South Australia
16.9%
Australia
21.3%

30.9% of West Torrens residents speak a language other than English at home, against 16.9% for South 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. 30.9% is 17,353 residents as a share of all 56,173 of us. A further 1,903 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 34.3%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 32.0%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for West Torrens, 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 West Torrens 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 West Torrens.