SourceTargetCommunity Atlas
We are Broome

We are Broome.

Home to one of the larger Bardi-speaking communities in Western Australia, and 66 other language communities besides.

Our population
16,686
Speak another language
4,246
Languages at home
15+
Growth since last census
+77.9%
67 languages are spoken at home in Broome. Bardi leads (208 speakers), with Kriol close behind (127). 25 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 Bardi at home
208
Our largest community language, Bardi, is spoken by 1.2% of Broome residents at home.
What makes our community ours
Bardi
208 speakers

208 speakers, 1.2% of Broome. +29% since 2021.

Kriol
127 speakers

127 speakers, 0.8% of Broome. -3% since 2021.

Spanish
112 speakers

112 speakers, 0.7% of Broome. +331% since 2021.

The languages of Broome

67 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.

Bardi
208 · +29.2%
Kriol
127 · -3.1%
Spanish
112 · +330.8%
Italian
96 · +92.0%
Mandarin
95 · +90.0%
Filipino
91 · +3.4%
Yawuru
87 · +357.9%
German
81 · -12.0%
Tagalog
79 · -8.1%
French
74 · +5.7%
Thai
64 · -7.2%
Cantonese
46 · +91.7%
Nyangumarta
36 · +176.9%
Aboriginal English, so described
34 · +126.7%
Yulparija
31 · +138.5%
GROWTH ≥ 50%
≥ 20%
≥ 5%
≥ 0%
≥ -10%
DECLINING
  1. 01
    Bardi208 · 1.2%
    29.2%
  2. 02
    Kriol127 · 0.8%
    3.1%
  3. 03
    Spanish112 · 0.7%
    330.8%
  4. 04
    Italian96 · 0.6%
    92.0%
  5. 05
    Mandarin95 · 0.6%
    90.0%
  6. 06
    Filipino91 · 0.5%
    3.4%
  7. 07
    Yawuru87 · 0.5%
    357.9%
  8. 08
    German81 · 0.5%
    12.0%
  9. 09
    Tagalog79 · 0.5%
    8.1%
  10. 10
    French74 · 0.4%
    5.7%
  11. 11
    Thai64 · 0.4%
    7.2%
  12. 12
    Cantonese46 · 0.3%
    91.7%
Fastest-growing among us
Yawuru
+357.9% 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
Broome
25.4%
Western Australia
23.5%
Australia
27.3%

25.4% of Broome residents speak a language other than English at home, against 23.5% for Western Australia and 27.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 census.