Australian English voice overs: what you need to know

Australia is a country without an official language.

In practice, virtually all of the population (estimated at 25.4 million people) speaks Australian English. There are also many indigenous languages like Warlpiri and Tiwi.

In addition,  immigrant languages like Mandarin or Arabic are quite widespread. 76% of the population speak only English at home.

Language History

British settlers founded a colony in New South Wales in the late 18th century. And brought the English language with them. The settlers represented many different parts of the UK and Ireland.

Immigration from the UK to Australia included exiled convicts and people seeking their fortune during the Australian gold rushes. This meant that the children of the colony heard a whole range of accents and dialects, particularly from Ireland and South East England. They soon created a distinctly Australian pattern of speech. It quickly took hold.

Close Relations

English is closely related to German, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages. Australian English also has unique influences from Aboriginal and Oceanic languages.

Accents and Voice Over Tips

Australian accents don’t vary much geographically. Although the country is 4.8 million square miles big, there’s a surprising consistency of pronunciation. This may be due to high internal mobility and mass university education.

There may be slight differences in pronunciation in South Australia compared to Queensland or New South Wales. It’s worth considering that accents are more likely to vary by social class. The ‘general Australian’ accent will be understood and accepted everywhere. It’s used by 55% of the population, particularly in a work or government context. ‘Broad Australian’ sounds more working class and is used by 35% of the population. Who are you targeting?

Australian English combines words and grammatical features from both the American and British variants. For example, it follows British spelling for words like ‘colour’ and ‘organise’, but uses ‘program’ instead of ‘programme’.

There are also distinctly Australian phrases and usage. This includes many abbreviations, such as ‘barbie’ for ‘barbecue’ or ‘mozzie’ for mosquito’. It’s often the case that informal language needs the most adaptation. Fair dinkum. If your video is conversational, get the text checked by a native Australian before the recording.

Words per minute

Like other forms of English, the average speaking rate is 150 words per minute. However, the more information you’re trying to convey, the more your voice actor will need to slow down. Always take the target audience and purpose into account when planning your voice over.