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JCPSLP Volume 17, Number 1 2015 49
the most common in South Australia and the Northern
Territory, Vietnamese in Western Australia and Samoan
in Queensland. The language spoken may also differ
from suburb to suburb within the same city. For example,
in 2011 Chinese-born migrants living in Sydney were
concentrated in Hurstville, Rhodes, Burwood, and Allawah,
while migrants born in India were concentrated in Harris
Park, Westmead and Parramatta (ABS, 2014).
The evidence regarding linguistic diversity reported
above reflects the general Australian context, and has
clear implications for the profession. Evidence regarding
the representation (in terms of percentage of caseload) of
clients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
is not readily available, but evidence that this client group is
of concern to the profession is to be found in publications
in SPA journals. Volume 13(3) of ACQuiring Knowledge in
Speech, Language and Hearing took cultural diversity as its
theme, and attracted papers and clinical insights across a
range of areas. With the exception of one article (Stewart,
2011) and one column (Bowen, 2011), all address issues
surrounding working with children. Working with adults
from diverse cultural backgrounds also presents challenges
to the profession, challenges which Australian speech
pathologists do not feel highly confident of meeting (Rose,
Ferguson, Power, Togher, & Worrall, 2014).
Diversity in the future
The range, contexts and purposes of practice of speech
pathology seem likely to continue to diversify, not only
within Australia, but worldwide. New technologies open
new possibilities for service delivery and intervention
approaches (see, for example, Finch, Clark, & Hill, 2013;
Ward & Burns, 2012), thus diversifying the practice of
speech pathology. The emerging development of the
profession in other countries (see, for example, McAllister et
al., 2013) will increase diversity in the international
professional workforce, in the clients who will benefit from
services, and in the contexts in which speech pathology
services are offered. As ASHA states, “Speech-language
pathology is a dynamic and continuously developing
profession” (2007, p. 2). Who can predict the extent of the
diversity we will see in our dynamic and developing
profession in fifty years’ time?
References
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
(2007). Scope of practice in speech-language pathology.
doi:10.1044/policy.SP2007-00283
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2006). Population
composition: Languages spoken in Australia. Retrieved
from http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/2f762f9584
5417aeca25706c00834efa/d67b7c95e0e8a733ca2570ec0
01117a2!OpenDocument
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2012a). 2011
census shows Asian languages on the rise in Australian
households. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/
websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/CO-60
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2012b). Cultural
diversity in Australia. Reflecting a nation: Stories from
the 2011 census. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.
au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2071.0main+featur
es902012-2013
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2013). The
“average” Australian . Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.
au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features30
April+2013
Africa, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the USA have increased in
the period between 2001 and 2010. The majority (85%) live
in major cities. Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth have the
highest migrant population. The ABS report Where Do
Migrants Live provides detailed information on the
percentage of migrants living in particular areas of those
cities (ABS, 2014). Despite this diversity, the 2011 census
reveals that the majority of Australians (74%) were born in
Australia, and both parents of 54% were also born in
Australia (ABS, 2013).
The relatively large migrant population is associated
with linguistic as well as cultural diversity. More than 300
languages are reported to be spoken in Australia (ABS,
2012a). The most common language spoken in Australian
homes is, perhaps unsurprisingly, English. Some 81%
of the respondents in the census of 2011 reported that
they spoke only English at home. Two percent spoke no
English. The most common language other than English
(LOTE) reported was Mandarin. Other frequently reported
languages included Italian, Arabic, Greek and Vietnamese
(ABS, 2013; ABS, 2012b). The most common LOTEs
spoken in the home vary with immigration patterns and
across age groups. Changes in immigration patterns
introduce new languages to the range spoken in Australia,
and alter the proportion of speakers recorded for individual
languages. These changes are seen in differing demand
for services within the community. For example, the
Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2012) reports
increased demand for interpreting services in Persian, Tamil,
and Hazaragi (a dialect of Persian spoken in Afghanistan)
in 2010–11. Migrants who have recently arrived in Australia
are more likely to speak a LOTE in the home than are
those who have been in the country for longer (67% of
recent arrivals, 49% of more longstanding residents),
and maintenance of the LOTE reduces dramatically with
increasing length of residence – from 53% for the first
generation to 20% in the second and 1.6% in the third
(ABS, 2012b).
The most common LOTEs spoken by children differ
from those reported in the census. McLeod (2011) reports
data extracted from the Longitudinal Study of Australian
Children which shows that, in a sample of 4,983 4–5-year-
old children, the most commonly spoken LOTE was Arabic,
which was only the fourth most common reported in the
census. Data from the same study also indicates that
the percentage of children reported to speak a language
other than English is lower than the percentage reported
in the census, and differs by age. At the first time of
sampling, when children were up to 1 year of age, 9.1%
were reported to use a LOTE. This increased to 15.7% at
time two (2–3 years) and 15.2% at time three (4–5 years).
The percentage of children who maintained use of a
LOTE between time two and time three was high (Verdon,
McLeod, & Winsler, 2014).
The proportion of people speaking a language other than
English differs by state. Data collected in the 1996 census
showed the highest proportion is found in the Northern
Territory (24.5%; reflecting the indigenous population)
and lowest in Tasmania (3.4%). The proportion in Victoria
is 20.7%, New South Wales 18.7%, ACT 14.1%, South
Australia 12.6%, Western Australia 11.8%, and Queensland
7.1% (ABS, 2006). The proportion of particular languages
spoken has also been shown to vary by state. For example,
McLeod (2011) reports that, in the sample of children
investigated, Arabic was the most common language
spoken in New South Wales and Victoria. Greek was