Frequently used abbreviations in this section
- CLS: community language schools
- ESB: English-speaking background
- LBOTE: language background other than English
- MESC: main English-speaking country
- NESB: non–English speaking background
- NMESC: non-main English-speaking country.
Note: The Australian Bureau of Statistics uses the term NMESC to represent non-main English-speaking countries, while MESC represents main English-speaking countries. MESC are the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, the United States and South Africa. NMESC covers all other countries of birth. Where appropriate and specifically relevant, some departments and agencies use the term NESB to stand for non–English speaking background and ESB to stand for English-speaking background. LBOTE stands for language background other than English, while LOTE is for language other than English.
Indicators
A1 Number of children and students being funded to learn languages in CLS Year Number of funded CLS Number of languages being learned Total children or students 2022 178 52 37,240 2021 189 49 38,970 Source: Department of Education Languages Report. There were fewer funded CLS in 2022 compared with 2021 due to the amalgamation of 13 Greek CLS into one CLS in 2022 and fewer accredited CLS applying for funding. Fewer students enrolled in CLS in 2022 due to disrupted learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Top 20 government-funded languages being learned in Victorian CLS in 2022 Language Number of children or students funded Chinese 15,121 Greek 4,122 Arabic 3,110 Vietnamese 2,117 Tamil 1,431 Sinhala 1,037 Japanese 764 Dari 653 Bangla 606 Korean 444 Russian 436 Somali 422 Cantonese 358 Punjabi 323 Persian 316 Serbian 305 Assyrian 283 Urdu 262 Hebrew 261 Dinka 245 A2 Students enrolled in VCE language studies (Unit 4) in Victorian schools in 2022 Language Enrolments French 1,487 Japanese Second Language 1,049 Chinese First Language 857 Chinese Second Language Advanced 649 Italian 582 Chinese Second Language 554 German 412 Indonesian Second Language 379 Latin 277 Greek 206 Vietnamese First Language 179 Vietnamese Second Language 164 Arabic 154 Spanish 129 Chinese Language Culture and Society 111 Turkish 81 Persian 77 Korean Second Language 60 Hebrew 40 Khmer 31 Source: Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2022 Satisfactory completion of VCE Units
B1 Proportion of survey respondents who ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that accepting immigrants from many different countries makes Australia stronger Year Survey respondents (%) 2023 79 2022 78 2021 76 2020 72 2019 67 2018 63 Source: The Scanlon Foundation’s Mapping Social Cohesion Survey reports. The surveys are conducted annually. Results collected earlier than 2018 are not included for comparison because a different survey mode was used.
B2 Number of complaints made to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission under the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 Year Number of complaints 2022–23 22 2021–22 12 2020–21 34 2019–20 18 2018–19 9 2017–18 18 2016–17 8 2015–16 13 2014–15 106 2013–14 25 2012–13 41 Source: Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission annual reports. The data is collected annually.
Lockdowns during COVID-19 impacted on the number of complaints made. The 2022–23 figure is consistent with pre-COVID levels.
B3 Number of complaints made to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission in relation to discrimination on the basis of race and religious belief under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 Year Number of complaints 2022–23 234[5] 2021–22 165 2020–21 240 2019–20 196 2018–19 244 2017–18 272 2016–17 254 2015–16 196 2014–15 147 2013–14 272 2012–13 244 Source: Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission annual reports. The data is collected annually.
Lockdowns during COVID-19 impacted on the number of complaints made. The 2022–23 figure is consistent with pre-COVID levels.
B4 Proportion of Victorians from a non–English speaking background who feel multiculturalism at least sometimes makes life better in their area Year ESB (%) NESB (%) 2022 65.0 67.5 2021 N/A N/A 2020 63.6 62.7 2019 54.8 58.1 2018 51.8 60.3 2017 51.1 58.2 2016 46.7 56.6 2015 50.1 55.7 2014 54.0 59.2 2013 - - 2012 46.8 54.9 Source: Department of Health, Victorian Population Health Survey. This data is collected annually. Estimates prior to 2015 are not directly comparable with estimates from 2015 onwards due to a significant change in the survey methodology. NESB is defined as adults in Victoria who spoke a language other than English at home. ESB is defined as adults who only speak English at home.
The Victorian Population Health Survey was not conducted in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey resumed in 2022.
No data was available for 2013 because the question was not asked. Data for 2015 onwards cannot be compared with previous years due to a change in survey methodology.
B5 Proportion of adults who felt they experienced discrimination or were treated unfairly by others in the past year because of their skin colour, nationality, race, ethnic group or identifying as Aboriginal Ethnicity of adults who experienced racism Proportion (%) of adults who experienced racism in the past 12 months Aboriginal 23.1 ESB (only spoke English at home) 3.4 NESB (spoke a LOTE at home) 18.7 All Victorian adults 7.8 Source: Department of Health, Victorian Population Health Survey. The 2022 survey was conducted at the state level at a reduced sample size of 7,500. With the exception of Aboriginal status and NESB status, the data cannot be further broken down to specify ethnicity. Every three years the Victorian Population Health Survey is conducted at the local government area level with a larger sample size of approximately 34,000. This enables data to be disaggregated into further categories based on ethnicity, which is why past reports have included these breakdowns. Reported percentages are based on 95 per cent confidence intervals (CI).
Aboriginal CI 13.8–36.1 per cent
ESB CI 2.9–4.1 per cent
NESB CI 16.4–21.3 per cent
All Victorian adults CI 7.0–8.7 per cent
C1 Number of Victorian children from a non–English speaking background enrolled in a Victorian government-funded kindergarten program Year NESB children enrolled in kindergarten 2022 26,703 2021 16,305 2020 14,818 2019 16,303 2018 18,195 2017 16,741 2016 14,044 2015 11,657 2014 9,904 2013 9,437 Source: Department of Education Kindergarten Census Collection. Data is collected annually. The significant increase in 2022 is due to the statewide rollout of three-year-old kindergarten. The data represents the number of children who were enrolled in a funded kindergarten program and whose family indicated that they speak another main language at home other than English. It is not feasible to calculate a kindergarten participation rate for NESB children because there is no suitable NESB population denominator for children eligible to enrol in three-year-old or four-year-old kindergarten. In 2019, 2020 and 2021, there was a system error in the Kindergarten Information Management System. This error has removed the ability for service providers to select ‘other’ under the question for ‘Main language spoken at home (if not English)’. Kindergarten services that would have usually entered data in this field may have left this blank. (In 2018 almost 3,500 children had ‘other’ entered in this field.)
C2 Unemployment rate of Victorians born in non-main English-speaking countries compared with the unemployment rate of all Victorians Year NMESC-born (%) All Victorians (%) June 2023 4.4 3.5 June 2022 3.6 3.1 June 2021 5.9 4.3 June 2020 9.0 7.1 June 2019 7.0 4.5 June 2018 6.7 5.3 June 2017 6.9 5.6 June 2016 6.4 5.4 Australian Bureau of Statistics (February 2024) 'Table 2 - Labour force status by State, Territory, Greater capital city, Rest of state (ASGS) and Sex, Australia', accessed 26 February 2024.
C3 Workforce participation rate of Victorians born in non-main English-speaking countries compared with the workforce participation rate of all Victorians Year NMESC-born (%) All Victorians (%) June 2023 66.7 67.8 June 2022 63.9 67.1 June 2021 62.5 66.1 June 2020 60.7 64.4 June 2019 61.6 66.1 June 2018 60.0 65.6 June 2017 58.0 66.1 June 2016 57.9 65.4 Australian Bureau of Statistics (February 2024) ‘LM7 – Labour force status by elapsed years since arrival, main English-speaking countries, sex, state and territory, January 1991 onwards’, Labour Force, Australia, Detailed', accessed 26 February 2024.
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