Victoria's cultural diversity

Victoria is home to one of the most culturally diverse societies in the world and we are among the fastest growing and most diverse states in Australia. Victoria’s rich cultural, religious and linguistic diversity is one of our greatest strengths and brings many social and economic benefits.

Below is a snapshot of Victoria’s cultural diversity, with a detailed breakdown of demographics, language maps and community profiles available on the Multicultural Affairs webpage.

Snapshot of Victoria’s diversity

• Victorians come from more than 300 ancestries, speak more than 290 languages and dialects and follow over 200 faiths.
• In 2021, 30% of Victoria’s population were born overseas, an increase from just over 28% in 2016, and greater than the national percentage of more than 27%.
• Over 49% of Victorians were either born overseas or have a parent born overseas. More than 41% of Victorians reported having both parents born overseas.
• The proportion of overseas-born Victorians who come from non-main English-speaking countries is 77.7% – the highest of any Australian state or territory.
• Over 27% of Victorians speak a language other than English at home.
• Of Victoria’s population, 54% follow one of more than 140 different faiths.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021, Housing: Census, ABS

Diversity and intersectionality within Victoria’s multicultural communities

There is a wealth of diversity in multicultural communities, with multiple and overlapping characteristics across the life course that can shape a person’s identity, experience and needs.

‘Intersectionality’ refers to the ways in which different aspects of a person’s identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation¹. As outlined in Figure 1, many factors can intersect to shape identity, health and wellbeing needs and access to services including people’s cultural, ethnic, faith and linguistic backgrounds, as well as their age, sex/gender identity, sexuality, ability, socioeconomic status and many other factors.

Figure 1: Intersectional factors that affect health and wellbeing

• Aboriginality
• sex
• gender
• gender identity
• sexual orientation
• ethnicity
• colour
• nationality
• language
• migration or visa status
• refugee or asylum seeker background
• religion
• ability
• age
• mental health
• socioeconomic status
• housing status
• geographic location
• medical record
• criminal record

Source: Victorian Government 2021, Understanding intersectionality

Attitudes, systems and structures in society and organisations can interact to create inequality and result in exclusion. These include sexism, racism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, intersex discrimination, ableism, ageism and stigma.

Community strengths, cultural knowledge and leadership

Multicultural communities demonstrate strength and resilience in starting a new life in Victoria. It takes tenacity to:

• adapt to a new environment
• learn a new language
• secure housing, employment and education
• navigate complex new service systems.

The department acknowledges the invaluable social, cultural and economic contributions of multicultural communities that shape our state. We must continue to draw on the deep community connections, cultural knowledge, wisdom and leadership in Victoria’s multicultural communities, as well as people’s strong desire to support one another and give back to the community.

Taking a strengths-based approach means we focus on the capacity, skills, knowledge, connections and potential in people and communities. It means we provide the supports and services required to enable people to thrive during their settlement journey.