The City of Greater Dandenong, in Melbourne’s southeast, is now officially Australia’s most culturally diverse community.

The latest Census figures show the level of diversity in Greater Dandenong is the highest in the country.

The area has seen waves of migration over the decades including people from Greece, Italy, the Balkans and China.

More recently it has seen Indians, Afghans, Sri Lankans and Burmese settle.

Greater Dandenong has long held claim to being the most culturally diverse city in Victoria but this is the first time in the city’s it has ranked number one nationally.

Greater Dandenong Mayor, Youhorn Chea, who was himself born in Cambodia, said the probability of two of the City’s people coming from different birthplaces is 78 per cent.

“The latest census data shows the City of Greater Dandenong has residents from 157 different birthplaces and more than half of our residents are born overseas,” Mayor Chea said.

“More than four in five residents in Greater Dandenong have at least one overseas born parent,” he said.

The latest Census data also revealed that in 2016 more than 70 per cent of residents spoke a language other than English – the largest in Victoria and more than double the metropolitan average of 31 per cent.

The top birthplace countries recorded in Greater Dandenong are Vietnam, Cambodia, China, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, New Zealand and Great Britain, the Census revealed.

It found widely spoken languages in Greater Dandenong included Vietnamese, Khmer, Chinese, Greek, Punjabi and Sinhalese.

There are almost 2,000 asylum seekers in Greater Dandenong – the highest of any Victorian Municipality.

Apart from Greater Dandenong, Victoria’s most diverse municipalities are Melbourne, Monash, Brimbank and Wyndham.

Laurie Nowell
AMES Australia Senior Journalist