Editing Culture of Australia (section)

==Language==
{{Further|Languages of Australia|Australian slang|Indigenous Australian languages|Variation in Australian English}}
[[File:DennisWriting.jpg|thumb|[[C. J. Dennis]], poetic humourist of [[Australian English]]]]

Although Australia has no official language, it is largely [[monoglottism|monolingual]] with [[English language|English]] being the de facto [[national language]]. [[Australian English]] is a major variety of the language that is immediately distinguishable from [[British English|British]], [[American English|American]], and other national dialects by virtue of its unique accents, pronunciations, idioms and vocabulary, although its spelling more closely reflects British versions rather than American. According to the 2011 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for around 80% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Mandarin (1.7%), Italian (1.5%), and Arabic (1.4%); almost all migrants speak some English.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2071.0main+features902012-2013|title=Reflecting a Nation: Stories from the 2011 Census, 2012–2013|date=21 June 2012|work=Catalogue item 2071.0|publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics|access-date=5 June 2014}}</ref> Australia has multiple sign languages, the most spoken known as [[Auslan]], which in 2004 was the main language of about 6,500 deaf people,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asliansw.org.au/work.php|title=Working with interpreters|year=2014|publisher=Australian Sign Language Interpreters' Association of NSW|access-date=5 June 2014}}</ref> and [[Australian Irish Sign Language]] with about 100 speakers.

It is believed that there were between 200 and 300 [[Australian Aboriginal languages]] at the time of first European contact, but only about 70 of these have survived and all but 20 are now endangered. An Indigenous language is the main language for 0.25% of the population.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dalby |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Dalby |title=Dictionary of Languages |year=1998 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |isbn=978-0-7475-3117-3 |page=43}}</ref>