SBS has announced the final selection criteria to be used to review the SBS Radio language services.
More than 600 submissions were received from listeners, government and staff during a public consultation period at the end of last year.
The final selection will be used in conjunction with data from the 2016 census to determine which languages SBS Radio will service beyond 2017.
After months of consultation and review, new criteria for SBS Radio's services have been announced.
The review began when draft selection criteria were released to the public in late 2016.
The hundreds of submissions received represented more than 80 languages, including almost 20 not currently serviced by SBS.
Close to 64 per cent of the submissions were from listeners to SBS Radio programs, with another 28 per cent coming from community organisations.
Many submissions highlighted the importance of English-language proficiency as part of the criteria, especially among new and elderly migrants.
SBS Radio content manager Mark Cummins says the level of English-language ability in a community may be lower than actually thought.
