DEMOGRAPHY, GEOGRAPHY AND ENGLISH PROFICENCY OF LANGUAGE USERS IN AUSTRALIA

This project aims to analyse changing demographic and geographic characteristics and English proficiency of immigrant language groups in Australia. An established interdisciplinary team will generate significant new knowledge of language used at national-level and within Australia’s cities and regions, using census data. Innovations include analysis of longitudinal data to better understand heritage language shift and retention. Expected outcomes further include
significantly enhanced understanding of the residential concentration of language groups. A comprehensive online database of demographic profiles and maps of Australia’s language groups will benefit evidence-based policy
formulation by government agencies, not-for-profits, and education providers.

The broad research question this project addresses is, “How and why did the demography, and geography and proficiency in English of Australia’s language groups change over the period 2006-2021?”