SourceTargetCommunity Atlas
We are Alice Springs

We are Alice Springs.

Home to one of the larger Punjabi-speaking communities in Northern Territory, and 90 other language communities besides.

Our population
25,399
Speak another language
7,729
Languages at home
15+
Growth since last census
+83.7%
91 languages are spoken at home in Alice Springs. Punjabi leads (421 speakers), with Malayalam close behind (414). 30 per cent of us speak a language other than English at home. That is the measure of a community that has not left its languages behind.
speak Punjabi at home
421
Our largest community language, Punjabi, is spoken by 1.7% of Alice Springs residents at home.
What makes our community ours
Punjabi
421 speakers

421 speakers, 1.7% of Alice Springs. +173% since 2021.

Malayalam
414 speakers

414 speakers, 1.6% of Alice Springs. -3% since 2021.

Tagalog
284 speakers

284 speakers, 1.1% of Alice Springs. +32% since 2021.

The languages of Alice Springs

91 languages carry the conversation at home. Every one of them is spoken here.

Each block below is scaled to the number of people who speak that language at home, and tinted by how fast that community has grown since the last census.

Punjabi
421 · +173.4%
Malayalam
414 · -2.6%
Tagalog
284 · +32.1%
Warlpiri
282 · +88.0%
Mandarin
269 · +65.0%
Western Arrarnta
241 · +249.3%
Nepali
223 · +278.0%
Pitjantjatjara
190 · +52.0%
Hindi
177 · +9.3%
Filipino
174 · -6.5%
Luritja
163 · +69.8%
Spanish
123 · +105.0%
Eastern Arrernte
120 · +140.0%
Nuer
114 · +470.0%
Sinhalese
97 · +6.6%
GROWTH ≥ 50%
≥ 20%
≥ 5%
≥ 0%
≥ -10%
DECLINING
  1. 01
    Punjabi421 · 1.7%
    173.4%
  2. 02
    Malayalam414 · 1.6%
    2.6%
  3. 03
    Tagalog284 · 1.1%
    32.1%
  4. 04
    Warlpiri282 · 1.1%
    88.0%
  5. 05
    Mandarin269 · 1.1%
    65.0%
  6. 06
    Western Arrarnta241 · 0.9%
    249.3%
  7. 07
    Nepali223 · 0.9%
    278.0%
  8. 08
    Pitjantjatjara190 · 0.7%
    52.0%
  9. 09
    Hindi177 · 0.7%
    9.3%
  10. 10
    Filipino174 · 0.7%
    6.5%
  11. 11
    Luritja163 · 0.6%
    69.8%
  12. 12
    Spanish123 · 0.5%
    105.0%
Fastest-growing among us
Nuer
+470.0% since last census

We publish this so our residents can see themselves counted, and so the agencies, funders and neighbours who serve us can see who we actually serve. Language access is not a translation line-item in our budget. It is how an emergency notice reaches a grandparent, how an enrolment form is understood, and how a health campaign actually lands in the suburbs that make up our council.

Our suburbs
Where we are
In context
Alice Springs
30.4%
Northern Territory
40.9%
Australia
27.3%

30.4% of Alice Springs residents speak a language other than English at home, against 40.9% for Northern Territory and 27.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 census.