Data from the Australian population census of 2016 show that fewer people speak Greek than at the last census of 2011.
According to the data, 237,000 people spoke Greek at home, while in 2011 252,000 people responded positively to this question.
1.8% of the total Australian population responded that it has a Greek background, a figure that corresponds to 421,000 people.
The encouraging evidence from the data is that the Greek-Australian community has the highest proportion of those who speak their parents’ language, compared with Australian children of other non-English speaking communities.
Greek is the 6th most spoken language, excluding English.
The total number of Greek-speakers is 237,588 and is distributed as follows to the Australian States and Regions:
Victoria: 110,707
NSW : 81,683
South Australia: 22,993
Queensland: 10,538
Western Australia: 4,790
Northern Territory: 3,245
Australian Capital Region: 2,436
Tasmania: 1,191
Of the 237,588 people, 122,794 were women and 114,794 men. The number of those born in Greece was 93,743. By State:
Victoria: 47,240
NSW: 29,481
South Australia: 8,682
Queensland: 3,298
Western Australia: 2,307
Northern Territory: 1,268
Australian Capital Area: 981
Tasmania : 480