How to Pull Off an Australian Accent

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What is widely accepted as the mainstream Australian accent comes from research by academics Alex Mitchell and Arthur Delbridge, published in their 1965 book, The Speech of Australian Adolescents. Their findings distinguished three varieties of Australian English accent: 

• Broad Australian is defined by a longer drawl. It is seen as the quintessential regional accent, found more often in rural areas. Think Steve Irwin. 
• General Australian is the most common Aussie accent, typically spoken in urban areas. Think Hugh Jackman. 
• Cultivated is more formal, with received pronunciation and British inflections. Think Cate Blanchett.

Each accent can reflect the social class, education, and urban or rural background of its speakers. Australian accents don’t fit neatly into those three boxes, however, and they encompass more variations and nuances. Indigenous Australian languages, culture, words, and slang terms have played a key role in shaping the wider Australian English language and accent, as have various migrant communities.

Which accent is best for actors to start learning? Whitham says it depends on the part you’re playing. 

“If you already have a script, then learn the accent that is indicated by the script,” she says. “The character brief will usually tell you about the character’s personality, cultural upbringing, and sometimes their dialect. If there’s no character brief, look for the way the character talks. If they say things like ‘Yeah, nah!’ or ‘You’re havin’ a laugh mate,’ then you will likely need to embody a broad Aussie sound.”

“Most of the time, casting directors are looking for a general Aussie accent, such as Margot Robbie’s,” Whitham says. “This is the dialect I am asked to coach most often. If you don’t have a specific character and script in mind, then start with the general Aussie accent.”

The media and performing arts play a key role in both creating and reinforcing stereotypes around accents and culture. 

International portrayals of Aussie accents have typically been an exaggerated, stereotyped, broad accent, like Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee (1986). That accent is common in rural regions, but it doesn’t reflect the majority of modern-day Australians. 

A lot of Australian actors are trained to have more ‘cultivated’ accents, adaptable for working in the UK or US. “Aussies are saturated with UK and US dialects from childhood, and I often hear Aussie kids talking in these accents for fun from a young age,” Whitham says. But that may be changing, with a growing appetite for a more nuanced range of accents. 

Meanwhile, immigrant communities in Australia, such as those from Italian, Greek, Chinese, and Lebanese backgrounds, have collectively shaped distinctive local accents. The accents typically contain features of General Australian English, as adopted by the children of immigrants, blended with some non-English features. The accents often belong to small, localised groups and include influences from a range of countries, including those on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.  

Regional variation

Not all Australians pronounce words the same way – or even use the same words. Swimming clothes, for example, are known as “cossies” or “swimmers” in New South Wales, “togs” in Queensland, and “bathers” in Victoria and South Australia. 

It will be useful to get familiar with Australian idioms, such as arvo (afternoon), crook (unwell), and U-ey (making a U-turn in a vehicle). Practise to ensure you sound natural using the expressions, and not contrived. 

Certain words can have many variations or connotations. For example: “Shall we d-ARHNSE?” (in a more cultivated accent), or, “Shall we d-ANSE?” (in a broader accent). 

The former could indicate to listeners that you grew up in Adelaide, but also indirectly link to notions of higher social status.

• The accent uses a lot of vowel sounds, which get elongated at the end of the word. “Cry,” for example, may sound like “cryyy” and “boy” may sound like “boyyy.” 
• Nonrhotic articulation, in which the letter R is not pronounced unless it is followed by a vowel. It is also common to drop the R at the end of a word like “car.”
• Very pronounced Ts at the beginning of words, such as “tomorrow,” but a flapping T in the middle of a word, so “cattle” sounds like “caddle.”

“The first thing to bear in mind is that learning any new accent takes time and practise. You are literally building new neuro-muscular habits,” Whitham says. “Be respectful of Aussie speakers, but also be kind to yourself – and play! Making mistakes and learning from them is an essential step toward developing specificity.”

Here are a few rules of a general Australian accent, and tricks for slipping into it:

• Keep your intonation steady. Picture a long, flat line of words coming out.
• Don’t let your tongue be hyperactive. Picture it like it’s lying over an exercise ball.
• Flatten that R.
• Relax your soft palate (the soft part of the roof of your mouth) downward.

Vowels

Vowels are tricky, and they can change depending on what sound follows them. As the Australian accent broadens, the vowels become longer. 

Types of vowels include: 

• Diphthong vowels, which have two distinct elements in one syllable – “loud,” “prize,” “bay,” and “void,” for example.
• Monophthong vowels, which have one single vowel element from start to finish – “cat,” “bed,” “hut,” “kid,” “nod,” and “put,” for example.

Vowels are shaped by the position of a speaker’s tongue in their mouth. In an Australian accent, the tongue muscles are fairly low in the mouth, so vowels are also pretty far back.

It’s important to learn each one properly. A lot of emotion is conveyed in vowels – through intonation, modulation, and emphasis – allowing a variety of meanings to come through pronunciation.

Consonants

The Australian accent is nonrhotic, which means the letter R is pronounced only when it’s followed by a vowel. If a word ends with an R, it is generally silent. “Tar,” for example, is pronounced “tah.” Other word examples include “picture” and “beer.” 

Other words sound like they contain or end in an R, but don’t. That occurs when a word with a vowel sound at the end is followed by a word with a vowel sound at the beginning. This is called a linking R sound. For example: “I have an idea(r) and I think it’s gonna work.” 

Whitham provides a good explainer for how it works in practice. “My first tip is to look at the spelling, and then say the word out loud,” she says. “Ask yourself if you feel the sides of your tongue pressing against your top side teeth and the tongue blade curling in an ‘rrr’ quality when you read words such as ‘purple,’ ‘here,’ and ‘actor.’ Or do you say something like ‘puhple,’ ‘hi-yah,’ and ‘actuh’?”

“If you make an R sound every time you read an R in spelling,” Whitham says, “you are likely rhotic and will need to adjust to sound Aussie.”

In Australian English, the T sound becomes a quick, flicked D sound in the middle of words, such as “water” and “party.” 

Tone

Nasality is whether you send or resonate the sound in your nose instead of only out of your mouth. If you want a broader Australian accent, then you need to make your words sound more nasal. A general Australian accent is less nasal than a broad one.

• Do a vocal warm-up first. 
• Prepare for your character like any other role. Think about how and where they live, how they were raised, and their experiences and perspective, and use it to inform the accent.
• The way we speak is not only about accent, but also idiom, slang, and dialect, which are informed by region, class, and time period. Consider all of those aspects when thinking about your character. 
• Everyone learns accents differently. Some have a much easier time seeing the sounds on a page through phonetics, while others pick up accents by ear. Find out which works best for you. 
• Relax. It should feel and sound natural, which means not labouring every sound or overusing idioms and slang. 
• Listen to native speakers and practise. Use YouTube for accent videos, watch Australian movies and TV shows, and try speaking the accent through a monologue.
• Book a few sessions with a good accent coach if you are able to.