PROFICIENCY IN SPOKEN ENGLISH
This topic applies only to people who speak a language other than English at home. It provides their own assessment on whether they speak English very well, well, not well or not at all.
Information from this topic is used in conjunction with information from the topic Main language other than English spoken at home, to assist in planning English language services at the local level. Questions on language use are also important for a wide variety of policies over a range of geographic levels.
BACKGROUND
In 1981, a question was asked on proficiency in spoken English for those persons speaking a language other than English at home. A similar question has been asked in each subsequent Australian Census.
QUESTION
The following question is from the paper 2011 Census Household Form.