Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Multicultural Affairs
Diversity Figures Snapshot
A statistical snapshot of the diversity of Queensland’s population
Overseas born Queenslanders: Top 10 local government areas
(LGA)
1.
Brisbane – 28.3% (295,201 people)
 Top 4 overseas countries of birth: New Zealand with 41,077 people (3.9%), followed by England (39,721 people
or 3.8%), China(a) (18,555 people or 1.8%) and India (18,049 people or 1.7%).
 18.5% or 192,586 people speak a language other than English at home, with Mandarin highest at 2.6% (27,363
people).
2.
Gold Coast – 27.9% (138,036 people)
 Top 4 overseas countries of birth: New Zealand with 42,543 people (8.6%), followed by England (27,705 people
or 5.6%), South Africa (5882 people or 1.2%) and Japan (3672 people or 0.7%).
 10.2% or 50,640 people speak a language other than English at home, with Japanese highest at 1.0% (4727
people).
3.
Logan – 26.1% (72,611 people)
 Top 4 overseas countries of birth: New Zealand with 21,835 people (7.9%), followed by England (12,511 people
or 4.5%), Philippines (2271 people or 0.8%) and South Africa (1883 people or 0.7%).
 12.8% or 35,544 people spoke a language other than English at home, with Samoan highest at 1.4% (3876
people).
4.
Cook – 23.2% (963 people)
 Top 4 overseas countries of birth: Sri Lanka with 219 people (5.3%), followed by Afghanistan (188 people or
4.5%), England (133 people or 3.2%) and New Zealand (98 people or 2.4%).
 8.5% or 352 people spoke a language other than English at home, with Guugu Yimidhirr highest at 1.8% (76
people).
5.
Redland – 22.6% (31,404 people)
 Top 4 overseas countries of birth: England with 9803 people (7.1%), followed by New Zealand (7596 people or
5.5%), South Africa (2011 people or 1.5%) and Scotland (1350 people or 1.0%).
 5.7 % or 7951 people spoke a language other than English at home, with German highest at 0.5% (640 people).
6.
Cairns – 20.2% (31,598 people)
 Top 4 overseas countries of birth: England with 6503 people (4.2%), followed by New Zealand (5281 people or
3.4%), Papua New Guinea (1996 people or 1.3%) and Japan (1541 people or 1.0%).
 10.9% or 17,069 people spoke a language other than English at home, with Japanese highest at 1.3% (2063
people).
7.
Sunshine Coast – 19.8% (60,780 people)
 Top 4 overseas countries of birth: England with 20,249 people (6.6%), followed by New Zealand (14,908 people
or 4.9%), South Africa (2448 people or 0.8%) and Germany (2196 people or 0.7%).
 4.1% or 12,593 people spoke a language other than English at home, with German highest at 0.6% (1868
people).
8.
Moreton Bay – 19.0% (71,710 people)
 Top 4 overseas countries of birth: England with 20,462 people (5.4%), followed by New Zealand (18,628 people
or 4.9%), South Africa (3665 people or 1.0%) and Scotland (2531 people or 0.7%).
 5.4% or 20,391 people spoke a language other than English at home, with Samoan highest at 0.4% (1564
people).
9.
Ipswich – 18.7% (31,266 people)
 Top 4 overseas countries of birth: New Zealand with 8631 people (5.2%), followed by England (5912 people or
3.5%), Samoa (1423 people or 0.9%) and Philippines (1167 people or 0.7%).
 9.3% or 15,500 people spoke a language other than English at home, with Samoan highest at 1.9% (3130
people).
10. Scenic Rim – 14.9% (5428 people)
 Top 4 overseas countries of birth: England with 1847 people (5.1%), followed by New Zealand (1254 people or
3.4%), Germany (255 people or 0.7%) and Netherlands (200 people or 0.5%).
 3.1% or 1136 people spoke a language other than English at home, with German highest at 0.5% (188 people).
(a) Excludes Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and Taiwan Province.
Source: ABS 2011 Census of Population and Housing
Did you know... ?
In 2011, 20.5 per cent of Queenslanders stated they were born outside Australia.
‘Queensland is home to people who speak more than 220 languages, hold more than 100
religious beliefs and come from more than 220 countries’.
Religious affiliation of Queensland's usual residents, 2011
Affiliation
Christianity (64.3%)
Buddhism (1.5%)
Other religions/affiliations (1.5%)
Islam (0.8%)
Hinduism (0.7%)
Judaism (0.1%)
Number
2,785,084
65,941
63,198
34,047
28,641
4,442
No religion (22.1%)
Religious affiliation not stated (9.1%)
955,782
395,603
Source: ABS 2011 Census of Population and Housing
Humanitarian program
Top ten source countries, Humanitarian Settlement Services (HSS) Arrivals, Queensland July
2011–June 2012
Source countries
Number
Afghanistan
345
Bhutan
191
Congo
360
Iran
414
Iraq
150
Myanmar
281
Pakistan
57
Somalia
99
Sri Lanka
Sudan
101
40
Source: Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) 2011—12
Queensland Humanitarian Settlement Strategy Report, July 2012 update.
Permanent additions
Country of Birth
New Zealand
United Kingdom
People's Republic of China
India
Philippines
South Africa
Korea (North and South)
Vietnam
Ireland
Thailand
Other
Total
Total
9,831
4,433
2,659
2,431
2,369
2,132
831
701
614
577
12,274
38,852
Source: DIAC, Population Flows 2010-2011
Diversity Figures 2011 is a joint project of the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Multicultural Affairs and Queensland Treasury and
Trade. For more information please contact Government Statistician, Queensland Treasury and Trade on (07) 3035 6418. Information about Queensland’s
diversity is also available in the Diversity Figures publication available from Multicultural Affairs Queensland at www.multicultural.qld.gov.au
Population born overseas: Top 10 South East Queensland
suburbs
1. Robertson –56.4% (2747 people)


Top 3 overseas countries of birth: China (a) with 612 people (12.6%), followed by Taiwan (467 people or 9.6%)
and India (261 people or 5.4%).
54.9% or 2672 people speak a language other than English at home, with Mandarin highest at 23.5% (1145
people).
2. 2 Stretton – 55.2% (2248 people)


Top 3 overseas countries of birth: China (a) with 289 people (7.1%), followed by Taiwan (284 people or 7.0%)
and New Zealand/Hong Kong (162 people or 4.0%).
56.4% or 2295 people speak a language other than English at home, with Mandarin highest at 16.1% (657
people).
3. 3 Macgregor – 54.2% (3021 people)


Top 3 overseas countries of birth: China (a) with 837 people (15.0%), followed by Taiwan (348 people or 6.2%)
and India (258 people or 4.6%).
51.9% or 2893 people speak a language other than English at home, with Mandarin highest at 20.2% (1125
people).
4. 4 Sunnybank – 50.8% (4111 people)



Top 3 overseas countries of birth: China (a) with 1217 people (15.0%), followed by Taiwan (578 people or 7.1%)
and India (280 people or 3.5%).
47.5% or 3846 people speak a language other than English at home, with Mandarin highest at
20.4% (1653 people).
5. 5 Calamvale – 50.8% (7762 people)


Top 3 overseas countries of birth: China (a) with 1266 people (8.3%), followed by New Zealand (791 people or
5.2%) and Taiwan (562 people or 3.7%).
46.4 % or 7098 people speak a language other than English at home, with Mandarin highest at 13.1 % (1999
people).
6. 6 Runcorn – 50.7% (7143 people)


Top 3 overseas countries of birth: China (a) with 1290 people (9.2%), followed by India (667 people or 4.7%)
and New Zealand (557 people or 4.0%).
46.5% or 6546 people speak a language other than English at home, with Mandarin highest at 13.5% (1900
people).
7. 7 Sunnybank Hills – 49.3% (8296 people)


Top 3 overseas countries of birth: China (a) with 1765 people (10.5%), followed by Taiwan (1110 people or 6.6
%) and New Zealand (725 people or 4.3%).
46.8% or 7873 people speak a language other than English at home, with Mandarin highest at 17.8% (2992
people).
8. 8 Brisbane City – 48.6% (3835 people)


Top 3 overseas countries of birth: South Korea with 522 people (6.6%), followed by England (346 people or
4.4%) and China (a) (308 people or 3.9%).
34.7 % or 2739 people speak a language other than English at home, with Mandarin highest at 7.8% (613
people).
9. 9 Eight Mile Plains – 48.5% (6495 people)


Top 3 overseas countries of birth: China (a) with 1000 people (7.5%), followed by South Korea (789 people or
5.9%) and Taiwan (573 people or 4.3%).
44.8% or 5993 people spoke a language other than English at home, with Mandarin highest at 11.9% (1597
people).
10. 10 Darra – 44.8 % (1719 people)


Top 3 overseas countries of birth: Vietnam with 605 people (15.8%), followed by New Zealand (130 people or
3.4%) and India (110 people or 2.9%).
48.6% or 1865 people spoke a language other than English at home, with Vietnamese highest at 23.2% (889
people).
a) Excludes Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and Taiwan Province
Source: ABS 2011 Census of Population and Housing
State suburbs based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS), July 2011.
Did you know?
9.8 per cent of Queenslanders stated they spoke a language other than English at home.
Top 20 birthplaces
Country of birth
Australia
United Kingdom, Channel Islands
and Isle of Man (a)
New Zealand
South Africa
India
Philippines
China (b)
Germany
Vietnam
United States of America
Netherlands
Italy
Malaysia
Korea, Republic of (South)
Fiji
Ireland
Japan
Canada
Hong Kong
Sri Lanka
Born elsewhere (c)
Country of birth not stated
Total population
Number
3,192,115
% of total
population
73.7
214,329
192,037
35,549
30,258
29,463
27,037
21,028
16,269
15,807
14,989
13,230
12,791
12,552
11,403
10,902
10,316
9,666
8,729
7,697
194,584
251,987
4,332,738
4.9
4.4
0.8
0.7
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
4.5
5.8
100.0
(a) Comprises ‘United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, ‘not further defined’, ‘England’, ‘Isle of Man’, ‘Northern Ireland’,
‘Scotland’, ‘Wales’, ‘Guernsey’ and ‘Jersey’. (b) Excludes Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and Taiwan
Province. (c) Includes countries not identified individually, ‘Australian External Territories’, ‘Inadequately described’ and ‘At sea’.
Source: ABS 2011 Census of Population and Housing.
Top 10 languages
Language
Mandarin
Cantonese
Vietnamese
Italian
German
Spanish
Hindi
Japanese
Samoan
Korean
Other (a)
Language other than English spoken at
home: total
Speaks English only
Language spoken at home not stated
Total population
Number
38,117
22,258
21,852
21,711
16,352
15,602
13,188
13,086
12,810
12,733
236,135
% total
population
0.9
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
5.5
423,844
3,675,957
232,937
4,332,738
9.8
84.8
5.4
100.00
Source: ABS 2011 Census of Population and Housing
(a) Includes other languages and languages not identified individually, 'Inadequately described' and 'Non-verbal, so described'.
Top 10 ancestries (a)
Queensland (b)
Number
% of total
population
English
1,629,463
37.6
Australian
1,587,992
36.7
Irish
484,929
11.2
Scottish
421,004
9.7
German
270,890
6.3
Italian
116,263
2.7
Chinese
94,848
2.2
Dutch
69,217
1.6
New Zealander
60,621
1.4
Maori
48,283
1.1
Ancestry(b)
(a) Respondents to the Census are asked to report up to two ancestries on the
Census form; therefore, the percentages may sum to more than 100%.
(b) Based on 4-digit ancestry codes from the Australian Standard Classification of Cultural and Ethnic Groups (ASCCEG) Second Edition, Revision 1, 2011.
Source: ABS 2011 Census of Population and Housing.
Copyright
© The State of Queensland (Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Multicultural Affairs) December 2012.
Licence
This document is licensed by the State of Queensland (Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Multicultural Affairs) under a Creative
Commons Attribution (CC BY) 3.0 Australia licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en.
This document uses data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2011 Census of Population and Housing and the Department of Immigration and
Citizenship (DIAC) to provide a snapshot of the geographical distribution of Queensland’s diverse population. The Census data are on a usual residence
basis, which is where people usually live rather than the place where they were counted on Census night.
There were 251,987 people who were usual residents of Queensland who did not state their birthplace at the time of the 2011 Census. These people are
included in Queensland’s total usual resident population when calculating the percentage of Queenslanders born overseas. The boundaries shown are
based on the ABS 2011 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).