2013 (To Appear). September Festival Magazine.

(Created by Leah Houle)

A portrait of Spanish speakers in Australia

Catherine E. Travis, Australian National University
September Festival Magazine, 2013

According to the 2011 census, some 250 different languages are spoken by close to four
million Australians. Where does Spanish sit in this? In 2011, there were 117,498 people in
Australia who speak Spanish in the home; this represents approximately one half of one
percent of the Australian population, or 3% of those who speak a language other than
English in the home. Not only is this a small proportion of the population, but these
speakers are a heterogeneous group, as they originate from some 20 different Spanishspeaking countries. Though they are small in number and diverse in origin, Spanish
speakers in Australia are a dynamic community, supported by many social and cultural
organisations and events. This September Festival Magazine is of course one example, as is
the Chilean Latin American September Festival with which it is associated.
Here, I present a portrait of Hispanics in Australia, based on figures from the Australian
Census of Population and Housing, carried out across Australia every five years and most
recently in 2011. The census asks two questions that are of relevance here. In which
country was the person born? provides information on the origins of first-generation
immigrants to Australia. Does the person speak a language other than English at home?
(with space to indicate what language that is) gives the number of speakers of different
languages (community languages, as I will refer to them here), including those born
overseas and those born in Australia. These two questions will be the focus of this
overview, but before zooming in on Spanish, we will briefly consider Australias
community languages more broadly.

Figure 1

Reproduction of questions on country of birth and language spoken at home from the
2011 Australian Census of Population and Housing

Community languages in Australia

Australia is a linguistically diverse country, and is becoming ever more so. In 1991,
approximately 2.5 million people (or 15% of the Australian population) spoke a community
language; in 2011, this had risen to approximately 3.9 million (19% of the population).
Thus, in this twenty-year period, we saw the number of speakers of languages other than
English rise by one half. The Australian population over all, on the other hand, rose by 4
million in this same time period, an increase of one quarter. Thus, the population of
speakers of community languages is increasing at a faster rate than the Australian
population overall.

Figure 2

Speakers of community languages as a proportion of the Australian population in 1991

(N = 16,357,398) and 2011 (N = 20,422,226) (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

1991
Other
15%

English
85%

2011
Other
19%

English
81%

As well as growth in the numbers of speakers, we have also seen an increase in the
diversity of community languages spoken. Italian and Greek have long been the most
widely spoken community languages in Australia, and in 1991, speakers of Italian and
Greek together represented close to 30% of all speakers of Australian community
languages. Other European languages included in the top eight community languages were
German, Polish and Spanish. In 2011, for the first time, Mandarin overtook Italian as the
number one community language, and Arabic and Cantonese overtook Greek to move into
third and fourth place respectively. This reflects a changing trend in Australian
immigration, with more and more immigration coming from Asia and the Arabic-speaking
world, and in general, a decline in the proportion of speakers of European languages.
Apart from Italian and Greek, the only other European language that retained its place in
the top eight from 1991 to 2011 was Spanish, which is one of the few European languages
that has been consistently growing over this twenty-year period, during which time it
increased by one third (from 90,477 speakers in 1991 to 117,498 in 2011). This is in
accordance with the move away from European immigration, for though Spanish is a
European Language, the majority of our Spanish-speaking immigrants come from Latin
America, as we will see below.

Figure 3

Eight most widely spoken community languages in Australia in 1991 and 2011
(Australian Bureau of Statistics)

1991

Italian
17%
Other
39%

Polish
3%
Vietnamese
4%

Spanish
4%

Greek
11%
Chinese
Languages
11%
Arabic
German 7%
4%

2011
Mandarin
9%

Italian
8%
Arabic
7%

Other
51%

Cantonese
7%
Greek
6%

Spanish
3%

Tagalog/ Vietnamese
Filipino
6%
3%

Spanish in Australia
Not all of Australias 117,498 Spanish speakers were born in Spanish-speaking countries;
close to one third were born in Australia, and a small proportion were born in other (non-

Spanish speaking) parts of the world. Furthermore, not all those born in Spanish-speaking
countries necessarily speak Spanish, as some lose Spanish after living in Australia for many
years (in particular, those who arrived when they were young), or marry Australians, and
no longer speak Spanish the home (recall that this is the way in which the question is
worded in the census). The number of people born in a Spanish-speaking country is
therefore not surprisingly smaller than the number of Spanish speakers. In 2011, there were
just over 100,000 people born in Spanish-speaking countries residing in Australia, from
distinct regions of the Spanish-speaking world. The largest group is from Chile, which,
with nearly 25,000 people, accounts for one-quarter of all Hispanic immigrants in
Australia, almost twice as many as the next most well represented group, those born in
Spain (13,000). Five other Latin American countries have strong representation, namely
Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador, Uruguay and Peru (between 9 and 12%, or 12,000 and
8,000 people). The only other countries that have a population of some size are Mexico,
Venezuela and Ecuador, which represent between 2% and 3% of the Australian Hispanic
population.
Just as we saw significant changes in the distribution of community languages from 1991 to
2011, we also see significant changes in the distribution of Hispanics over this time period.
Particularly notable is Spain: in 1991 there were approximately 15,000 people born in
Spain residing in Australia, and in 2011 this had dropped to 13,000; and thus Spanish-born
went from representing 20% of Australias Hispanics in 1991 (with 15,000 people) to just
13% (with 13,000). Though less drastic, we also see a drop in the proportion of people from
Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and El Salvador. Where we see an increase is from non-southern
cone areas of South America, in particular Colombia and Peru. Likewise for Mexico,
Venezuela and Ecuador: though the numbers are much lower, the proportion of people born
in these three countries has doubled or tripled over these twenty years. These changes are
intrinsically tied in with Australias immigration policy as well as economic and political
conditions in the country of origin, which we will now consider, focusing on the seven
most well represented regions.
Table 1

Ten best represented countries where Spanish is spoken as birthplaces of Australian first
generation immigrants in 2011 and 1991 (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

Chile
Spain
Argentina
Colombia
El Salvador
Uruguay
Peru
Mexico
Venezuela
Ecuador
Other

2011
25%
13%
12%
12%
10%
9%
9%
3%
3%
2%
3%

1991
27%
20%
15%
3%
12%
13%
5%
1%
1%
1%
2%

A history of Spanish in Australia

In 2011, Australia celebrated 100 years of census collection. This gives us a rich historical
resource, on the basis of which we can chart the demographic makeup of our immigrants.
Figure 4

Number of people residing in Australia who were born in the most well-represented
Spanish-speaking countries in 2011, from 1921-2011 (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

30,000
25,000

Spain
Argentina

20,000

Uruguay
15,000

Chile
El Salvador

10,000

Colombia
5,000

Peru

0
1921 1947 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011

Immigration from Spain

The Spanish have the longest presence in Australia, and were recorded on the census as
early as 1921, primarily Basques working in the sugar-cane industry in Queensland.
Immigration from Spain was relatively minimal, however, until 1958 when the Australian
and Spanish governments signed an agreement according to which the Australian
government offered Spanish immigrants assistance with the cost of travel to Australia
(though the Assisted Passages Scheme), as part of the extensive post-World War II
immigration from Europe. By 1971, the Spanish population had reached its peak, and it
remained relatively stable for the next twenty years, and then began to decline. Spains
admission to the European Union in 1986, which gave the Spanish ready access to
prosperous states that were much closer and more readily accessible than Australia, not
only slowed immigration to Australia, but resulted in some Spanish immigrants returning
home. There has been a slight rise in Spanish-born in recent years, in particular from 20062011, and it will be interesting to see what changes occur between now and the next census
in 2016, given the current economic situation in Spain and across much of Europe.

Immigration from Latin America

Australias immigration policy up until the 1970s was governed by the White Australia
Policy, which favoured immigrants from particular countries, in particular Britain. Latin
American immigrants during this time were thus primarily British who happened to live in
Latin America, or post-World War II immigrants from Europe, who migrated first to Latin
America and then to Australia. In terms of the census recording of immigration from this
region, until 1971, Latin American countries were not reported on individually. In 1971,
when data from the different countries was first given, people in Australia born in Spain

outnumbered those born in the Latin American countries combined. By 1981, however,
those born in Latin America already doubled those born in Spain. This immigration history
can be broken down into three waves, according to time of immigration, which corresponds
with immigration circumstances and region, namely the Southern Cone, El Salvador, and
(non-Southern Cone) South America.
Immigration from the Southern Cone
The first major source of immigration to Australia from Latin America was from the
Southern Cone, in particular Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. Immigration from Argentina
and Uruguay was sparked by poor economic conditions (high inflation and high
unemployment), and political turmoil, culminating in harsh military dictatorships. The peak
of immigration from these two countries was in the 1970s; Argentinian and Uruguayan
immigrants arrived under the Assisted Passage Scheme, to be housed in migrant hostels
(for example, those in Fairfield in Sydney and Springvale in Melbourne), from which they
later moved to the surrounding suburbs. From the 1980s, with the return of democracy to
both Argentina and Uruguay, immigration has been minimal, and some have returned to
their home country.
The story of immigration from Chile is slightly different, in that it can be broken down into
three distinct phases. The first took place over the last two years of rule of Chiles Christian
Democratic President, Eduardo Frei (1968-1970), a time of immense economic and
political turmoil; in this period, many well educated, English speaking, middle-class
Chileans left Chile for Australia. The second phase occurred following the election of leftist
president Salvador Allende in 1970, which also saw wealthy, educated Chileans come to
Australia. The third, and primary, phase transpired under Augusto Pinochets brutal
dictatorship (1973-1990). In this period, immigrants came primarily under the Special
Humanitarian Program for refugees or the Family Reunion Scheme. By 1990, there were
over 18,000 Chileans in Australia, and no doubt due in part to these large numbers and the
fact that a strong community had been established, Chileans continue to immigrate to
Australia today, many coming to join their family, and others coming as professionals to
pursue their career in Australia.
Immigration from El Salvador
El Salvador as a country of birth was first reported on the Australian census in 1986, at
which time a figure of just over 2,000 was recorded. By 1996, this had grown five times to
almost 10,000. The vast majority of Salvadoran immigrants came under the Special
Humanitarian Program for refugees, escaping the Salvadoran Civil War (1979-1992), and
Australia received more refugees from El Salvador than from any other Latin American
country. Many had little or no English on arrival, and took work in labouring and
production. Since the end of the civil war in 1992, there has been minimal continued
immigration from El Salvador.
Immigration from Colombia and Peru
Finally, in more recent years we have seen increased immigration from areas of South
America outside of the Southern Cone, especially from Colombia and Peru. Though the
numbers are lower for these two countries than for the other Latin American countries
mentioned above, they are increasing much more rapidly, particularly for the Colombians.
From 2001 to 2011, the Peruvian population in Australia rose by one half (from 5,600 to
8,200), and the Colombian population almost tripled (from 4,100 to 11,300).

In the late 1960s, the Australian government expanded its immigration program in Latin
America to offer the Assisted Passage Scheme much more widely, and Peruvians, as well
as Colombians (though to a lesser degree) took advantage of this. Immigrants of this time
typically had little English, and common professions were in trades or production. The past
ten years, however, have seen a marked shift in the social demographic, in accordance with
Australian immigration policy which has moved towards schemes that attract skilled
workers. In the more recent arrivals we find large numbers of well educated, highly skilled,
bilinguals. Included in this group are students: there are currently 1,000 Colombians
studying in Australia, making Colombia second only to Brazil as a source of international
students from Latin America, and 14th overall.
Summary
In sum, we have seen a shift in the demographic of Australias Spanish-speaking
immigrants. In the 1970s and 1980s (with the exception of the first two phases of
immigration from Chile), immigrants from the Spanish-speaking world commonly arrived
under humanitarian schemes which allowed them to escape harsh economic and political
situations, with little money, little English and varying levels of education, to take on
(initially at least) unskilled or semiskilled jobs. Newer immigrants, in particular over the
past ten years, on the other hand, are highly trained, bilingual professionals, who come to
study, and/or to have their qualifications recognised in order to continue their career in
Australia. What all have in common is that they leave behind their country to seek a better
future in Australia, and in doing this, they become a dynamic and vital force in Australian
society.

Catherine Travis is Professor of Modern European Languages in the School of Language

Studies at the Australian National University. The ANU hosts a widely acclaimed Spanish
program which is winner of a national teaching award in 2012, and which includes
Australias only Hispanic Linguistics specialisation. Her research focuses on Hispanic
Linguistics and bilingualism, and she is currently examining the Spanish of Hispanic
immigrants in Australia and the US.
See her website at: https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/travis-ce
See her website for Spanish in Australia at: https://sites.google.com/site/espanolaustralia/