EA Report - State of indigenous Languages in Australia

01 November 2001

The indicators address the following key issues about the state of Indigenous languages in Australia:
- condition of Indigenous languages
- state of documentation of languages
- the wider use of Indigenous languages
- funding, research and education.

The study found that in 1996:
- there has been a decrease in the percentage of Indigenous people speaking Indigenous languages from 100% in 1800 to 13% in 1996;
- There are about 55,000 speakers of Indigenous languages in Australia;
- The number of Indigenous languages, and the percentage of people speaking these languages have continued to fall in the period 1986-1996, accelerating over the ten years; and
of the 20 languages categorised in 1990 as strong, 3 should now be regarded as
endangered.

Download: EA Report - State of indigenous Languages in Australia

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