Demographics of Melbourne - Ethnic Groups and Multiculturalism

Ethnic Groups and Multiculturalism

Melbourne does enjoy comparatively high levels of migrant integration to the other capital cities, however some ethnic groups are associated with the suburb in which they first settled:

• Italian with Carlton and Brunswick
• Macedonian with Thomastown and St Albans
• Indian with South Eastern Suburbs such as Hampton Park and Narre Warren, North Western Suburbs, and South Western Suburbs
• Chinese with CBD, Richmond, Springvale, Glen Waverley, Point Cook and Box Hill
• Greek with Oakleigh, Northcote, Hughesdale, and interspersed in Northern and Eastern Suburbs
• Sri Lankans with Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Lynbrook, Hallam, South Eastern Suburbs, and North Western Suburbs
• Vietnamese with Richmond, Footscray, St. Albans and Springvale
• Cambodian with Springvale South and Keysborough
• Jewish with North Caulfield, Caulfield, St. Kilda East, and South Eastern Suburbs
• Middle Eastern with Northern and South Western Suburbs
• Maltese with Sunshine, Keilor, St. Albans, and Airport West
• Bosnian, Serb and Croat with St Albans and Springvale
• Filipino with Hoppers Crossing
• Turkish with Broadmeadows
• Lebanese with Coburg
• Russian with Carnegie
• Spanish with Fitzroy
• North African with Flemington
• Sub-Saharan African with Noble Park.

The cities of Dandenong, Monash, Casey and Whittlesea on Melbourne's fringe are particular current migrant hotspots.

Melbourne exceeds the national average in terms of proportion of residents born overseas: 34.8% compared to a national average of 23.1%. In concordance with national data, Britain is the most commonly reported country of birth, with 4.7%, followed by Italy (2.4%), Greece (1.9%) and then China (1.3%). Melbourne also features substantial Vietnamese, Indian and Sri Lankan-born communities, in addition to recent South African and Sudanese influxes.

Over two-thirds of people in Melbourne speak only English at home (68.8%). Italian is the second most common home language (4.0%), with Greek third and Chinese fourth, each with over 100,000 speakers.