question: how is English is the main language in Australia?
comment: Can't answer for the accent but for the English speakers it was because the British at one point in history used to send all their criminals there.
passages: Although Australia has no official language, English has always been entrenched as the "de facto" national language. Australian English is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon, and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling. General Australian serves as the standard dialect. According to the 2011 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for close to 81% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Mandarin (1.7%), Italian (1.5%), Arabic (1.4%), Cantonese (1.3%), Greek (1.3%), and Vietnamese (1.2%); a considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual. A 2010–2011 study by the Australia Early Development Index found the most common language spoken by children after English was Arabic, followed by Vietnamese, Greek, Chinese, and Hindi.
   There has been a steady decline in the percentage of Australians who speak only English at home since at least 2001. According to the 2001 census, English was the only language spoken in the home for around 80% of the population. By the 2006 census it had fallen to close to 79%, while in the 2011 census, that number had fallen to 76.8%. According to the 2016 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for close to 72.7% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are: 
  
  BULLET::::- Mandarin (2.5%)
  
  BULLET::::- Arabic (1.4%)
   Australia has no official language, but is largely monolingual with English being the "de facto" national language. A considerable proportion of first and second generation migrants are bilingual. According to Ethnologue, 81% of people spoke English at home, including L2 speakers. Other languages spoken at home included Chinese 2.9%, Italian 1.2%, Arabic 1.1%, Greek 1%, Vietnamese 0.9% and Spanish 0.4%.
  
  There were almost 400 languages spoken by Indigenous Australians prior to the arrival of Europeans. Only about 70 of these languages have survived and all but 30 of these are now endangered.
  
  Section::::National languages.:Azerbaijan.
   BULLET::::- Australia – Australian English is the de facto official language of Australia. Auslan is recognised by the Australian Government and is spoken by many Australian deaf people. Australian Aboriginal languages, of which there are approximately 290–363, have recognition – though only a few are popularly spoken by Australian Indigenous people, including: Wiradjuri, Pitjantjatjara, Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Ngaanyatjarra, Warlpiri and Australian Kriol. Many government departments and agencies, as well as private services, have adopted the use of Mandarin Chinese as a de facto second language, reflecting Australia's large Chinese population and strong trade and diplomatic ties to China.
   A considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual.
  
  Over 250 Indigenous Australian languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact, of which less than 20 are still in daily use by all age groups. About 110 others are spoken exclusively by older people. At the time of the 2006 census, 52,000 Indigenous Australians, representing 12% of the Indigenous population, reported that they spoke an Indigenous language at home. Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 5,500 deaf people.
   Although Australia has no official language, it is largely monolingual with English being the de facto national language. Australian English is a major variety of the language which is immediately distinguishable from British, American, and other national dialects by virtue of its unique accents, pronunciations, idioms and vocabulary, although its spelling more closely reflects British versions rather than American. According to the 2011 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for around 80% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Mandarin (1.7%), Italian (1.5%), and Arabic (1.4%); almost all migrants speak some English. Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which in 2004 was the main language of about 6,500 deaf people.
   Australian English
  
  Australian English (AuE; en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. Although English has no official status in the Constitution, Australian English is the country's national and "de facto" official language as it is the first language of the majority of the population.
   Australian English is a major variety of the English language and is used throughout Australia. Although English has no official status in the Constitution, Australian English is the country's "de facto" official language and is the first language of the majority of the population.
   An indigenous language remains the main language for about 50,000 (0.25%) people. Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language that approximately 10,000 deaf people use. Chinese is by far the most spoken foreign language, with 715,000 speakers as of 2016, and has even been considered to be put on signs across Australia, to encourage tourists to explore and interact with other people.
  
  The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island languages with the most speakers today are Upper Arrernte, Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Tiwi, Walmajarri, Warlpiri, and the Western Desert language.
  
  Section::::Australian Aboriginal languages.:Torres Strait languages.
   In 1991, The New South Wales Correspondence School, which catered for preschool to Year 12 students, was decentralised into 19 Distance Education centres located in schools across the state. At this time the Learning Materials Production Centre was formed to produce learning materials for all these centres and Open High School was established to teach languages by distance to students across the state. In 2017, Open High School changed its name to NSW School of Languages. In 2018, NSW School of Languages moved to its current and permanent location in Petersham.
  
  Section::::Enrolment.
   Its long-term aim is to have the Irish language included as an official subject in the Victorian secondary school curriculum and to encourage the teaching of the language at tertiary level as a unit for a BA in Irish Studies.
  
  Section::::Daonscoil Victoria.
   Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland (English is the other official language). Despite this, almost all government debates and business are conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde, was inaugurated as the first President of Ireland. The record of his delivering his inaugural "Declaration of Office" in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect.
   English is also the primary natively spoken language in the countries and territories of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Guyana, the Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jersey, Montserrat, the Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands.
   Although Australia has no official language, English is the "de facto" national language. Australian English is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon, and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling. General Australian serves as the standard dialect.
  
  According to the 2016 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for 72.7% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Mandarin (2.5%), Arabic (1.4%), Cantonese (1.2%), Vietnamese (1.2%) and Italian (1.2%). A considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual.
   The United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, where the overwhelming majority of native English speakers reside, do not have English as an official language "de jure", but English is considered to be their "de facto" official language due to its dominant position in these countries.
  
  Section::::Country subdivisions.
  
  In these country subdivisions, English has "de jure" official status, but English is not official in their respective countries at the national level.
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Anglo-America
  
  BULLET::::- Commonwealth of Nations
  
  BULLET::::- British Overseas Territories
  
  BULLET::::- English-speaking world
  
  BULLET::::- List of countries by English-speaking population
  
  BULLET::::- British Empire
   Languages of New Zealand
  
  English is the predominant language and a "de facto" official language of New Zealand. Almost the entire population speak it either as native speakers or proficiently as a second language. The New Zealand English dialect is most similar to Australian English in pronunciation, with some key differences. The Māori language of the indigenous Māori people was made the first "de jure" official language in 1987. New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) has been an official language since 2006. Many other languages are used by New Zealand's minority ethnic communities.
  
  Section::::Official languages.
   Besides the major varieties of English, such as British English, American English, Canadian English, Australian English, Irish English, New Zealand English and their sub-varieties, countries such as South Africa, India, the Philippines, Jamaica and Nigeria also have millions of native speakers of dialect continua ranging from English-based creole languages to Standard English. Other countries such as Ghana and Uganda also use English as their primary official languages.
   In July 2003, the Official Languages Act was signed, declaring Irish an official language, requiring public service providers to make services available in the language, which affected advertising, signage, announcements, public reports, and more.
  
  In 2007, Irish became an official working language of the European Union.
  
  Section::::Independent Ireland and the language.
   English is one of the eleven official languages that are given equal status in South Africa (South African English). It is also the official language in current dependent territories of Australia (Norfolk Island, Christmas Island and Cocos Island) and of the United States of America (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico (in Puerto Rico, English is co-official with Spanish) and the US Virgin Islands), and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.
   Tier 2 languages were chosen because French, Japanese, Indonesian and German are some of the most frequently taught languages in Australian schools, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean are national priorities and Spanish "is a language of global importance".
  
  Tier 3 languages were chosen because Arabic, Modern Greek and Vietnamese are the most frequently spoken foreign languages in Australian homes, and Arabic "is a language of global importance".
  
  Section::::References.
  
  BULLET::::- LOTE at Victorian Essential Learning Standards
  
  BULLET::::- LOTE as part of Multicultural Education Programs
  
  BULLET::::- LOTE on Victorian Department of Education Website
  
  BULLET::::- LOTE at Tasmanian Department of Education Website
   The 2011 census indicated that 1,895 people used Irish as a household language in Australia. This marks an increase from the 2001 census, which gave a figure of 828. The census does not count those who use Irish or other languages outside the household context.
  
  The Department of Celtic Studies at the University of Sydney offers courses in Modern Irish linguistics, Old Irish and Modern Irish language. The University of Melbourne houses a valuable collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century books and manuscripts in Irish, 
   The majority of states where English is an official language are former territories of the British Empire. Notable exceptions include Rwanda, which was formerly a Belgian territory, Cameroon, where only part of national territory were under British mandate, and Liberia, the Philippines, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, which were American territories. English is the sole official language of the Commonwealth of Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. English is one of the official languages of the United Nations, the European Union, NAFTA, African Union, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Caribbean Community, Union of South American Nations and many other international organisations. Although English is "de jure" not an official language at the national level in the United States, most states and territories within the United States have English as an official language. Only Puerto Rico uses a language other than English as a primary working language.
   Section::::Australia.
  
  Prior to European colonisation, there were hundreds of Aboriginal languages, taught in a traditional way. The arrival of a substantial number of Irish in the first English convict ships meant that European Australia was not ever truly monolingual. When the gold rushes of the 1850s trebled the white population, it brought many more Welsh speakers, who had their own language newspapers through to the 1870s, but the absence of language education meant that these Celtic languages never flourished.
   Section::::In specific countries/territories.:New Zealand.
  
  New Zealand has three official languages. English is the "de facto" and principal official language, accepted in all situations. The Māori language and New Zealand Sign Language both have limited "de jure" official status under the Māori Language Act 1987 and New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006
  
  Section::::In specific countries/territories.:Pakistan.
  
  Urdu is the national language of Pakistan. Urdu and English both are official languages in Pakistan. Pakistan has more than 60 other languages.
  
  Section::::In specific countries/territories.:Russia.
   Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin was a pidgin used as a lingua franca between Malays, Japanese, Vietnamese, Torres Strait Islanders and Aborigines on pearling boats.
  
  Section::::Immigrant languages.
  