Multicultural but monolingual: Australia’s Pacific disconnect
The Interpreter, Lowy Institute
“Given this diversity, one might assume Australia would be linguistically rich. According to the 2021 census, roughly one in five Australians speak a language other than English at home. But the numbers drop when we look at how many Australians actively choose to learn another language. In the 1960s, around 40 per cent of Australian students graduated with a second language qualification. In 2021, that figure dropped to just 8.6 per cent.”
“This isn’t a global trend. Australia is falling behind. Eurostat’s 2023 data on language education shows that, on average, 96.8 per cent of EU students graduate with at least one foreign language, and 71 per cent with two. Australia barely registers by comparison.”