Language skills of general practitioners in Sydney

Nearly 50% of the general practitioners in nine representative local-government areas of Sydney spoke one of 27 languages other than English. The most common languages were Chinese dialects, Indian dialects, Italian, German and French. Bilingual and multilingual doctors tended to practise in local government areas with relatively large non-English-speaking populations. Nevertheless, some language groups would not have easy access to a general practitioner, particularly to a female doctor, who speaks their language.