At the 2011 ABS Census, 33.6% of the City of Whittlesea’s population was born overseas and 30% came from countries where
English was not their first language. The areas within the City of Whittlesea with the highest percentages of overseas born include:
Thomastown (50.1%), Lalor (47.4%), Epping North (42%), Bundoora (38.5%) and Mill Park (31.8%) 25.
In 2011, the highest ranking countries for overseas birthplace include: Italy (4%), Macedonia (3.7%), India (3.4%) and Greece
(2.6%). Between the 2006 and 2011 Census, the number of people born overseas in the City of Whittlesea increased by 11,266 or
27.7%, and the number of people from non-English speaking background increased by 9,903 or 36.9%. The largest changes in nonEnglish speaking countries of birthplace of the population in the City of Whittlesea, between 2006 and 2011 were of those born in:
India (+3,509 persons), China (+1,154 persons) and Sri Lanka (+685 persons).26
Of those who indicated they were born overseas from the 2014 ER survey 34.5% were born in Iran, 15.4% in Sri Lanka and 14.5%
were born in Iraq.
Table 4: Main Overseas Birthplaces
Main Overseas Birthplaces
No.
Proportion of
Survey
Respondents
City of Whittlesea
Iran
38
34.5%
0.2%
Sri Lanka
17
15.4%
1.2%
Iraq
16
14.5%
0.9%
Egypt
3
2.7%
0.6%
Greece
3
2.7%
2.6%
Lebanon
3
2.7%
1.0%
Macedonia
3
2.7%
3.7%
Vietnam
3
2.7%
1.7%
Italy
2
1.8%
4.0%
Pakistan
2
1.8%
0.2%
Syria
2
1.8%
0.2%
The majority of respondents to the 2014 ER survey were long-term Australian residents. Of those who were born overseas, over
33% had arrived in Australia in 2008 or prior. However, an equal proportion of respondents born overseas arrived in Australia far
more recently in in 2013 (33.3%) and in 2012 (22.5%). In the local population, the most significant number of recent arrivals live in
Epping North (28.9%), Mernda-Doreen (27.2%) and Bundoora (23.6%)27.
25
City of Whittlesea (2015), Profile.id, City of Whittlesea Community Profile, www.profile.id.com.au/whittlesea
Ibid.
27
City of Whittlesea (2015), atlas.id, Social Atlas, City of Whittlesea, www.atlas.id.com.au/whittlesea
26
21