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Person—main language other than English spoken at home, code (ASCL 2016) N[NNN]

Data Element Attributes

Identifying and definitional attributes

Metadata item type:Help on this termData Element
Short name:Help on this termMain language other than English spoken at home
METEOR identifier:Help on this term659402
Registration status:Help on this term

Children and Families, Standard 20/01/2021

Health, Standard 25/01/2018

Homelessness, Standard 10/08/2018

Definition:Help on this term

The language reported by a person as the main language other than English spoken by that person in his/her home (or most recent private residential setting occupied by the person) to communicate with other residents of the home or setting and regular visitors, as represented by a code.

Data Element Concept:Help on this termPerson—main language other than English spoken at home
Value Domain:Help on this termLanguage code (ASCL 2016) N[NNN]

Value domain attributes

Representational attributes

Classification scheme:Australian Standard Classification of Languages 2016
Representation class:Help on this termCode
Data type:Help on this termNumber
Format:Help on this termN[NNN]
Maximum character length:Help on this term4

Collection and usage attributes

Guide for use:Help on this term

The ASCL has a three-level hierarchical structure. The most detailed level of the classification consists of languages which are represented by four-digit codes. The second level of the classification comprises narrow groups of languages (the Narrow group level), identified by two-digit and three-digit codes. The most general level of the classification consists of broad groups of languages (the Broad group level) and is identified by one-digit codes. The classification includes Australian Indigenous languages and sign languages.

For example, the Lithuanian language has a code of 3102. In this case 3 denotes that it is an Eastern European language, while 31 denotes that it is a Baltic language. The Pintupi Aboriginal language is coded as 8713. In this case 8 denotes that it is an Australian Indigenous language and 87 denotes that the language is a Western Desert language.

Language data may be output at the Broad group level, Narrow group level or the language level of the classification. Also, significant languages within a Narrow group can be presented separately with the remaining languages of the Narrow group aggregated. The same principle can be adopted to highlight significant Narrow groups within a Broad group.

Source and reference attributes

Submitting organisation:Help on this term

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Data element attributes Help on this term

Collection and usage attributes

Collection methods:Help on this term

Where extensive data on main language other than English spoken at home is needed, one of the two questions below may be used:

Alternative 1

Do you/Does the person/Does (name)/ Will (name of child under two years) speak a language other than English at home? (If more than one language, indicate the language that is spoken most often.)

No, (English only) []

Yes, Mandarin []

Yes, Italian []

Yes, Arabic []

Yes, Cantonese []

Yes, Greek []

Yes, Vietnamese  []

Yes, Spanish  []

Yes, Hindi  []

Yes, Tagalog  []

Yes, Other (please specify) ____________

The above list includes languages based on their statistical frequency in Australia, based on data from the Census of Population and Housing.

Alternative 2

Do you/Does the person/Does (name)/ Will (name of child under two years) speak a language other than English at home?

No, English only []

Yes, Other - please specify ____________

Where there is no requirement for detailed language data, the following question may be suitable:

Do you/Does the person/Does (name)/ Will (name of child under two years) speak a language other than English at home?

No, English only []

Yes, Other []

Comments:Help on this term

This metadata item is consistent with that used in the Australian Bureau of Statistics's (ABS) Census of Population and Housing and is recommended for use whenever there is a requirement for comparison with Census data.

This data element is important in identifying those people most likely to suffer disadvantage in terms of their ability to access services due to language and/or cultural difficulties. In conjunction with Indigenous status, Proficiency in spoken English and Country of birth this data element forms the minimum core set of cultural and language indicators recommended by the ABS.

Data on main language other than English spoken at home are regarded as an indicator of 'active' ethnicity and also as useful for the study of inter-generational language retention. The availability of such data may help providers of health and community services to effectively target the geographic areas or population groups that need those services. It may be used for the investigation and development of language services such as interpreter/ translation services.

Source and reference attributes

Submitting organisation:Help on this term

 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Reference documents:Help on this term

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016a. Australian Standard Classification of Languages (ASCL) 2016. ABS cat. no.1267.0. Canberra: ABS.

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016b. Language Standards 2016. ABS cat. no.1200.0.55.005. Canberra: ABS.

Relational attributes

Related metadata references:Help on this term
Supersedes Person—main language other than English spoken at home, code (ASCL 2011) NN{NN}

        Children and Families, Superseded 20/01/2021

        Community Services (retired), Standard 13/10/2011

        Disability, Standard 13/08/2015

        Health, Superseded 25/01/2018

        Homelessness, Superseded 10/08/2018

        Housing assistance, Standard 13/10/2011

See also Person—main language other than English spoken at home, text X[X(99)]

        Health, Recorded 22/12/2022

See also Person—preferred language, code (ASCL 2016) N[NNN]

        Aged Care, Standard 30/06/2023

        Health, Standard 25/01/2018

        Tasmanian Health, Standard 27/06/2017

See also Person—proficiency in spoken English, code N

        Health, Standard 05/10/2022

        Homelessness, Standard 10/08/2018

Implementation in Data Set Specifications:Help on this term
All attributes +
Australian Sports Injury Data Dictionary

        Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Recorded 09/08/2023


Child protection (CP) client file cluster

        Children and Families, Superseded 03/11/2021


Child protection (CP) client file cluster

        Children and Families, Standard 03/11/2021


Dementia NBPDS

        Health, Standard 05/10/2022


National Bowel Cancer Screening Program NBEDS 2018–19

        Health, Superseded 12/12/2018

DSS specific attributes +
Implementation start date: 01/07/2018
Implementation end date: 30/06/2019

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program NBEDS 2019–20

        Health, Superseded 16/01/2020

DSS specific attributes +
Implementation start date: 01/07/2019
Implementation end date: 30/06/2020

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program NBEDS 2020–21

        Health, Superseded 05/02/2021

DSS specific attributes +
Implementation start date: 01/07/2020
Implementation end date: 30/06/2021

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program NBEDS 2021–22

        Health, Superseded 17/12/2021

DSS specific attributes +
Implementation start date: 01/07/2021
Implementation end date: 30/06/2022

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program NBEDS 2022–23

        Health, Superseded 09/12/2022

DSS specific attributes +
Implementation start date: 01/07/2022
Implementation end date: 30/06/2023

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program NBEDS 2023–24

        Health, Standard 09/12/2022

DSS specific attributes +
Implementation start date: 01/07/2023
Implementation end date: 30/06/2024

Prison dischargee NBEDS 2018

        Health, Recorded 22/12/2022

DSS specific attributes +
DSS specific information:

This data element corresponds to the following question of the Prison Dischargee Form: 

8. Main language spoken at home.

In the Prison dischargee data collection, the ASCL codes will be mapped to:

Code 1  English

Code 2 Other (specify)

Code 9  Unknown

Where the main language spoken at home is a language other than  English, the data element Person—main language other than English spoken at home, text X[X(99)] should also be completed.


Prison entrants NBEDS 2018

        Health, Recorded 22/12/2022

DSS specific attributes +
DSS specific information:

This data element corresponds to the following question of the Prison Entrants Form: 

7. Main language spoken at home.

The ASCL codes will be mapped to:

  • Code 1   English
  • Code 2   Other (specify)
  • Code 9   Unknown

Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS 2019-

        Homelessness, Standard 10/08/2018

DSS specific attributes +
Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

Where a client is without a home, record main language spoken other than English.

This collection records the ABS classification supplementary code Not Stated (0002).


Your Experience of Service National Best Endeavours Data Set

        Health, Superseded 15/04/2021

DSS specific attributes +
DSS specific information:

This relates to the main language spoken at home question of the YES survey instrument. The full question is: What is the main language you speak at home?


Your Experience of Service National Best Endeavours Data Set 2019–

        Health, Standard 15/04/2021

DSS specific attributes +
DSS specific information:

This relates to the main language spoken at home question of the YES survey instrument. The full question is: What is the main language you speak at home?


Implementation in Indicators:Help on this term
Used as Disaggregation
National Bowel Cancer Screening Program: PI 01-Participation rate

        Health, Standard 06/09/2018

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program: PI 02-Screening positivity rate

        Health, Standard 06/09/2018

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program: PI 03-Diagnostic assessment rate

        Health, Standard 06/09/2018

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program: PI 04-Time between positive screen and diagnostic assessment

        Health, Standard 06/09/2018

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program: PI 05a-Adenoma detection rate

        Health, Standard 06/09/2018

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program: PI 05b-Positive predictive value of diagnostic assessment for detecting adenoma

        Health, Standard 06/09/2018

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program: PI 06a-Colorectal cancer detection rate

        Health, Standard 06/09/2018

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program: PI 06b-Positive predictive value of diagnostic assessment for detecting colorectal cancer

        Health, Standard 06/09/2018

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program: PI 07-Interval cancer rate

        Health, Standard 06/09/2018

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program: PI 08-Cancer clinico-pathological stage distribution

        Health, Standard 06/09/2018

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program: PI 09-Adverse events (hospital admission rate)

        Health, Standard 06/09/2018

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