(Photo: SBS)

Australian public broadcaster SBS has announced an update to its audio content offering to reflect contemporary Australia and serve the record number of Australians speaking a language other than English at home.

SBS is retaining its distinctive output in more than 60 languages, while increasing investment in First Nations and Indo-Pacific languages, Auslan sign language content, and growing and high needs migrant communities, particularly from South Asia.

The broadcaster has announced key changes to its audio language services to reflect Australia’s rapidly changing and increasingly diverse society while continuing to tell stories of contemporary Australia, building belonging and social cohesion.

The announcement follows an extensive Language Services Review which examined the results of the 2021 Census. The number of Australians using a language other than English at home grew 16 percent to 5.6 million, with SBS’s updated services continuing to serve 92 percent of these users and reach more audiences than ever before.

SBS will service 63 languages in total across radio, podcasting, online and social media. This includes welcoming four new languages to the SBS family – Bislama, Malay, Oromo and Tetum – as well as continuing services in 59 languages for existing audiences.

See here for more details.