One in four Australians was either born in a non-English speaking country or has at least one parent from such a country. At least 17 per cent of the population speak a language other than English at home. Linguistic diversity is regarded as an important cultural and economic asset. Government language support programs place special emphasis on Asian languages. The four priority languages are Japanese, Indonesian, Korean and Mandarin.
Many Australian schools offer students a choice of an Asian or a European language.
Since 1990 more students have studied Japanese than any other language for the final school year examination and at university. Italian remains the most widely taught language, reflecting the extensive community-based programs in Australia's second most widely spoken language. This idea effectively excluded non-European immigration, and was sometimes called the 'White Australia' policy. Since World War II about 5.5 million immigrants have come to Australia. Many came from non-English speaking parts of Europe and joined ethnic communities that preserved the languages and cultures of their countries of origin.