SourceTargetCommunity Atlas
We are Ballina

We are Ballina.

Home to one of the larger German-speaking communities in New South Wales, and 62 other language communities besides.

Our population
45,848
Speak another language
4,388
Languages at home
15+
Growth since last census
+120.4%
63 languages are spoken at home in Ballina. German leads (178 speakers), with French close behind (141). 10 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 German at home
178
Our largest community language, German, is spoken by 0.4% of Ballina residents at home.
What makes our community ours
German
178 speakers

178 speakers, 0.4% of Ballina. +33% since 2021.

French
141 speakers

141 speakers, 0.3% of Ballina. +76% since 2021.

Portuguese
135 speakers

135 speakers, 0.3% of Ballina. +275% since 2021.

The languages of Ballina

63 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.

German
178 · +32.8%
French
141 · +76.3%
Portuguese
135 · +275.0%
Spanish
127 · +49.4%
Italian
126 · +16.7%
Thai
121 · +255.9%
Punjabi
117 · +165.9%
Japanese
96 · +33.3%
Dutch
74 · +12.1%
Cantonese
47 · +27.0%
Bandjalang
45 · +1400.0%
Mandarin
45 · -35.7%
Afrikaans
41 · +5.1%
Vietnamese
40 · 0.0%
Swedish
37 · +76.2%
GROWTH ≥ 50%
≥ 20%
≥ 5%
≥ 0%
≥ -10%
DECLINING
  1. 01
    German178 · 0.4%
    32.8%
  2. 02
    French141 · 0.3%
    76.3%
  3. 03
    Portuguese135 · 0.3%
    275.0%
  4. 04
    Spanish127 · 0.3%
    49.4%
  5. 05
    Italian126 · 0.3%
    16.7%
  6. 06
    Thai121 · 0.3%
    255.9%
  7. 07
    Punjabi117 · 0.3%
    165.9%
  8. 08
    Japanese96 · 0.2%
    33.3%
  9. 09
    Dutch74 · 0.2%
    12.1%
  10. 10
    Cantonese47 · 0.1%
    27.0%
  11. 11
    Bandjalang45 · 0.1%
    1400.0%
  12. 12
    Mandarin45 · 0.1%
    35.7%
Fastest-growing among us
Bandjalang
+1400.0% 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
Ballina
9.6%
New South Wales
31.4%
Australia
27.3%

9.6% of Ballina residents speak a language other than English at home, against 31.4% for New South Wales and 27.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 census.