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Do not fill this in! ===Language=== {{Main|Languages of Australia}} Although English is not the official language of Australia in law, it is the ''[[de facto]]'' official and national language.<ref name="language2">{{Cite web |title=Pluralist Nations: Pluralist Language Policies? |url=http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/confer/04/speech18b.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220020910/http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/confer/04/speech18b.htm |archive-date=20 December 2008 |access-date=11 January 2009 |work=1995 Global Cultural Diversity Conference Proceedings, Sydney |publisher=[[Department of Immigration and Citizenship]]}} "English has no de jure status but it is so entrenched as the common language that it is de facto the official language as well as the national language."</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ward |first=Rowena |date=2019 |title='National' and 'Official' Languages Across the Independent Asia-Pacific |journal=Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies |volume=16 |issue=1/2 |pages=83โ4 |doi=10.5130/pjmis.v16i1-2.6510 | doi-access=free |quote=The use of English in Australia is one example of both a de facto national and official language: it is widely used and is the language of government and the courts, but has never been legally designated as the country's official language.}}</ref> [[Australian English]] is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moore |first=Bruce |title=The Vocabulary Of Australian English |url=http://www.nma.gov.au/libraries/attachments/exhibitions/vocabulary_of_australian_english/files/5471/Vocabulary%20of%20Australian%20English.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320004658/http://www.nma.gov.au/libraries/attachments/exhibitions/vocabulary_of_australian_english/files/5471/Vocabulary%20of%20Australian%20English.pdf |archive-date=20 March 2011 |access-date=5 April 2010 |publisher=National Museum of Australia}}</ref> and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling.<ref name="Fourth Edition 20052">"The Macquarie Dictionary", Fourth Edition. The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, 2005.</ref> [[General Australian]] serves as the standard dialect.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lalande |first=Line |date=4 May 2020 |title=Australian English in a nutshell |url=https://www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca/en/blogue-blog/australian-english-eng |publisher=Government of Canada}}</ref> At the 2021 census, English was the only language spoken in the home for 72% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home were [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] (2.7%), [[Arabic language|Arabic]] (1.4%), [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] (1.3%), [[Cantonese]] (1.2%) and [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] (0.9%).<ref name="auto22">{{Cite web |title=2021 Australia, Census All persons QuickStats |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/AUS |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315155123/https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/AUS |archive-date= Mar 15, 2024 }}</ref> Over 250 [[Australian Aboriginal languages]] are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.arts.gov.au/what-we-do/indigenous-arts-and-languages/indigenous-languages-and-arts-program/national-indigenous-languages-report |title=National Indigenous Languages Report |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |year=2020 |location=Canberra |pages=13}}</ref> The National Indigenous Languages Survey (NILS) for 2018โ19 found that more than 120 Indigenous language varieties were in use or being revived, although 70 of those in use were endangered.<ref>National Indigenous Language Report (2020). pp. 42, 65</ref> The 2021 census found that 167 Indigenous languages were spoken at home by 76,978 Indigenous Australians โ Yumplatok ([[Torres Strait Creole]]), [[Djambarrpuyngu]] (a [[Yolลu languages|Yolลu language]]) and [[Pitjantjatjara dialect|Pitjantjatjara]] (a [[Western Desert language]]) were among the most widely spoken.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 June 2022 |title=Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: Census |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people-census/2021 |access-date=7 May 2023 |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics}}</ref> NILS and the Australian Bureau of Statistics use different classifications for Indigenous Australian languages.<ref>National Indigenous Languages Report (2020). p. 46</ref> The Australian sign language known as [[Auslan]] was used at home by 16,242 people at the time of the 2021 census.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Census of Population and Housing: Cultural diversity data summary, 2021, TABLE 5. LANGUAGE USED AT HOME BY STATE AND TERRITORY |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/cultural-diversity-census/2021#data-downloads |access-date=7 May 2021 |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page