A Snapshot of Early Childhood Development in Australia 2012

Indigenous and Language Background Other Than English childrenThe Australian population is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse in the worldand this is represented in the children surveyed for the AEDI. The number of Indigenous andchildren with a language background other than English (LBOTE*) by state and territory isprovided in Table 4.2. These groups are not mutually exclusive as shown in Table 4.2. Forexample, it is possible for children to be both Indigenous and have LBOTE status.Table 4.2: Indigenous and Language Background Other Than English (LBOTE*) childrenby state/territory (2012)Australia NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NTIndigenous 15,490 4,988 946 4,513 2,207 827 472 117 1,420(5.3%) (5.3%) (1.4%) (7.3%) (6.9%) (4.4%) (7.3%) (2.4%) (40.9%)LBOTE* 3,070 230 32 950 591 258 4 12 993Non-LBOTE12,420 4,758 914 3,563 1,616 569 468 105 427274,483(94.7%)89,584(94.7%)66,985(98.6%)57,080(92.7%)29,951(93.1%)18,094(95.6%)5,958(92.7%)4,781(97.6%)2,050(59.1%)LBOTE* 52,419 23,758 14,278 5,599 4,422 2,750 258 950 404NonindigenousNon-LBOTETotalLBOTETotal Non-LBOTE222,064 65,826 52,707 51,481 25,529 15,344 5,700 3,831 1,64655,489(19.1%)234,484(80.9%)23,988(25.4%)70,584(74.6%)14,310(21.1%)53,621(78.9%)6,549(10.6%)55,044(89.4%)5,013(15.6%)27,145(84.4%)3,008(15.9%)15,913(84.1%)262(4.1%)6,168(95.9%)962(19.6%)3,936(80.4%)1,397(40.3%)2,073(59.7%)Total 298,973 94,572 67,931 61,593 32,158 18,921 6,430 4,898 3,470* See relevant definition of terms.4.2 Language diversity of Australias childrenIndigenous childrenAcross Australia, teachers reported a total of 15,490 Indigenous children, which represents5.3 per cent of all children surveyed. Indigenous Cultural Consultants completed the AEDIChecklist collaboratively with the childs classroom teacher for 5,466 children (35.3 per centof all Indigenous children surveyed).Indigenous Cultural Consultants were recruited from various professions including Aboriginaland Islander education workers, Aboriginal early years liaison officers, Aboriginal educationofficers, Aboriginal education workers, Aboriginal and Islander education officers, Aboriginalteachers aides, assistant teachers, home liaison officers, inclusion support officers andliteracy support officers.Teachers reported that 3,070 Indigenous children (19.8 per cent of all Indigenous children)speak languages other than English in the home. There is diversity in the languages spokenby Indigenous children, with 109 different traditional languages to English reported. Of these83 traditional languages were reported as being the main language other than Englishspoken at home. An overview of the main languages other than English spoken byIndigenous children is provided in Table 4.3. The complete list of languages can be found atwww.aedi.org.au.31