Person: Main language other than English spoken at home, Language code (ASCL 2016) N(4)

Collection Methods:

Where extensive data on main language other than English spoken at home is needed, one of the two questions below may be used:

Alternative 1

Do you/Does the person/Does (name)/ Will (name of child under two years) speak a language other than English at home? (If more than one language, indicate the language that is spoken most often.)

• No, (English only) []
• Yes, Mandarin []
• Yes, Italian []
• Yes, Arabic []
• Yes, Cantonese []
• Yes, Greek []
• Yes, Vietnamese []
• Yes, Spanish []
• Yes, Hindi []
• Yes, Tagalog []
• Yes, Other (please specify) ____________

The above list includes languages based on their statistical frequency in Australia, based on data from the Census of Population and Housing.

Alternative 2

Do you/Does the person/Does (name)/ Will (name of child under two years) speak a language other than English at home?

• No, English only []
• Yes, Other - please specify ____________

Where there is no requirement for detailed language data, the following question may be suitable:

Do you/Does the person/Does (name)/ Will (name of child under two years) speak a language other than English at home?

• No, English only []
• Yes, Other []

Comments:

This metadata item is consistent with that used in the Australian Bureau of Statistics's (ABS) Census of Population and Housing and is recommended for use whenever there is a requirement for comparison with Census data.

This data element is important in identifying those people most likely to suffer disadvantage in terms of their ability to access services due to language and/or cultural difficulties. In conjunction with Indigenous status, Proficiency in spoken English and Country of birth this data element forms the minimum core set of cultural and language indicators recommended by the ABS.

Data on main language other than English spoken at home are regarded as an indicator of 'active' ethnicity and also as useful for the study of inter-generational language retention. The availability of such data may help providers of health and community services to effectively target the geographic areas or population groups that need those services. It may be used for the investigation and development of language services such as interpreter/ translation services.