Sydney Council Moves to Mandate English on Business Signs

A Sydney council has passed a motion calling for English to be clearly and prominently displayed on multilingual business signage, revisiting an issue already covered by existing council planning controls.The motion was put forward by Strathfield Councillor Esther Kim at an ordinary council meeting in late July.Under the motion, the council would recognise English as Australia’s common language and affirm that it should be the primary language used in information intended for the general public.Kim’s motion also called on businesses using languages other than English on shopfront signs or advertising to ensure English is also displayed clearly and prominently.The council would also write to the federal and New South Wales governments expressing its support for policies promoting the use of English in information intended for the general public, with translations into other languages provided where appropriate.The motion also called for the council’s general manager to prepare a report outlining existing council policies relating to multilingual signage and provide recommendations on their future application.The motion was supported by Kim and seconded by Deputy Mayor Sandy Reddy, with Councillors Matthew Blackmore and John-Paul Baladi also voting in favour.Mayor Benjamin Cai and Councillor Rory Nosworthy opposed the motion.Kim told the meeting she was a migrant herself but was concerned some shops in the area displayed signage without any English.“I’m a migrant too, when people come as migrants, living in Australia, we have to respect that English is our common language,” she said.Nosworthy argued it was not the council’s role to determine what languages businesses used on their shopfronts.“I think it’s up to the store owner … I’m not sure it’s for us to say what language they should put their signage in,” he said.A Multicultural AreaStrathfield is a highly multicultural local government area in Sydney’s Inner West.According to the 2021 Census, Chinese was reported as an ancestry by 21.4 percent of residents, Indian by 11 percent, Australian by 8.2 percent and Nepalese by 6.9 percent. Census respondents can nominate more than one ancestry.Australia was the most common country of birth, with 36.2 percent of residents born in the country, followed by India at 11.7 percent and China at 9.8 percent.The area’s linguistic diversity is also significant. Just 29.1 percent of residents reported speaking only English at home, while 72.9 percent of households had at least one language other than English in use.A Debate Spanning YearsThe debate over English-language signage is not new for Strathfield Council.In April 2018, Blackmore successfully moved a motion proposing changes to the council’s development controls governing signage.The initial proposal required signs to be displayed in English while allowing direct or near-direct translations in another language.It proposed that translated text be displayed in smaller characters and be limited to 30 percent of the size of the English-language text.The motion passed unanimously and the proposed changes were subsequently placed on public exhibition. However, following consultation, the proposed restriction was relaxed.The council ultimately adopted a requirement for signs to be displayed predominantly in English, with “predominantly” defined as more than 50 percent of the written area of the sign.Later that year, Strathfield Council’s April 2018 resolution was cited in the federal Senate by then-senator Fraser Anning.Anning referred to the council’s original proposal while calling on the federal government to officially recognise English as Australia’s official language and encourage the use of English on shop signs nationally.Kim’s current motion differs from earlier motions by calling for the council to officially recognise English as the main language, advocate for state and federal support for the policy, and clearly define English on signage.The Epoch Times has contacted Kim and the council’s mayor for comment.