Western Australia Culture & Language

Perth is among the most isolated major cities in the world — closer to Jakarta, Singapore and Bali than to Sydney — and that distance shapes everything. The state looks north and west rather than east, and the Asian ties are commercial and personal rather than abstract.

Life is outdoors and beach-centred. The coast faces west, so sunset over the ocean is the daily social event, which no eastern Australian city has.

Mining is the economic backdrop to everything: fly-in fly-out work shapes family life, town populations and accommodation prices across the north.

Aboriginal culture is strongest in the Kimberley and Pilbara, with distinct traditions — Wandjina and Gwion Gwion rock art, and the Mowanjum and Warmun art movements.

English is universal. Perth has large Mandarin, Italian, Vietnamese, Afrikaans and Malay-speaking communities, and a notably large British-born population.

Noongar is the language of the southwest and is being revived, appearing in dual naming — Boorloo for Perth, Walyalup for Fremantle. The Kimberley and Pilbara hold dozens of distinct languages, several still spoken as first languages.

Local usage worth knowing: the Fremantle Doctor is the afternoon sea breeze, Freo is Fremantle, FIFO is fly-in fly-out mining work, and over east means the rest of Australia, usually with a slight edge.