Our community told us they value cultural diversity. According to the Victorian 2020 Population Health Survey, most people in Boroondara (77%) think that having people from different cultures makes their community better. This is higher than the average in Melbourne (66%) and the seventh-highest result of 79 Victorian Local Government Areas.
The number of people born in other countries has grown in Boroondara. In 1991, 23.6% of residents were born overseas. By 2021, this number increased to 32.5% (or 54,522) of residents. This is a bit lower than the Greater Melbourne area, where 35.7% of residents were born overseas.
The map below shows that the northeast areas of Boroondara, like Balwyn, Balwyn North, and Deepdene, have the most people who were born overseas (38% or more residents) and speak a language other than English at home (46.2%). In these areas, many residents were born in China and speak Mandarin.
Distribution of overseas born residents in Boroondara based on 2021 Census data.
Country of birth
32.5% (54,522) of Boroondara residents were born overseas, compared with 35.7% of Greater Melbourne residents.
Boroondara residents named more than 150 countries as their place of birth.
The top 3 overseas countries of birth in Boroondara in 2021 were:
- China (8% or 13,393 Boroondara residents)
- United Kingdom (3.4%)
- India (2.4%).
The largest increases in country of birth between 2016 and 2021 were:
- China (+2,330)
- Malaysia (+416)
- Hong Kong (+283).
The top 3 ancestries in Boroondara in 2021 were:
- English (29% or 48,730 Boroondara residents)
- Australian (24%)
- Chinese (18.2%).
There are 94,338 residents (56.2%) who have one or both parents who were born overseas compared with 60.6% of Greater Melbourne residents.
There are 73,149 Boroondara residents (43.6%) who have had both parents born overseas, compared with 49.3% of Greater Melbourne residents.
Language
In 2021, 20,446 Boroondara households used a language other than English. This makes households where a non-English language is used less frequent in Boroondara (32.6%) than across Greater Melbourne (37.7%) but more frequent than across Victoria (30.2% of households) and Australia (24.8% of households).
More than 120 languages other than English are used in Boroondara households.
The top 3 languages used at home other than English in Boroondara in 2021 were:
- Mandarin (10.4% or 17,412 Boroondara residents)
- Cantonese (3%)
- Greek (2.7%).
Language communities who had fewer speakers in 2021 than the previous Census include Italian, Gujarati, Greek and Arabic.
There are 6,801 residents (4.1%) who speak English not well or not at all. This is lower than the Greater Melbourne rate (5.4%) and a little lower than the Victorian rate (4.4%).
Religion
There are 84,84 Boroondara residents (50.5%) who report a religious affiliation.
There are 75,571 Boroondara residents (45%) who reported no religious affiliation.
In 2021, the 3 most common religions were:
- Western (Roman) Catholic (19.9% or 33,419 Boroondara residents)
- Anglican (7.9%)
- Greek Orthodox (4.1%).
The proportion of residents reporting a Christian religion has been in decline and the proportion reporting no religion has been increasing.