The Australian Bureau of Statistics collects data on respondents’ ancestry through the Census of Population and Housing. Ancestry is one of several indicators of ethnicity which refers to “the shared identity or similarity of a group of people on the basis of one or more factors.” Respondents can report up to two responses to the Census question on ancestry.

Wyndham residents have a diverse cultural background. In 2016, around one in five residents indicated English ancestry (21.3%). Another one in five have Australian ancestry (20.3%). Wyndham is more diverse than Greater Melbourne, where more than half of all residents (50.6%) have either English or Australian ancestry.

Wyndham has significantly more residents with an Indian ancestry (12.6%) than Greater Melbourne (4.4%). Wyndham residents are also more likely to identify as Filipino (3.5%) than Greater Melbourne residents (1.3%).

Wyndham residents’ ethnicity is also reflected in country of birth with just over half of all residents having been born in Australia (52.8%). In Greater Melbourne, just under six in ten residents were born in Australia (59.8%). The table below shows the top twenty ancestries and countries of birth for Wyndham. The figure below shows the proportion of residents who were born overseas at the smallest geography possible. Diversity is high in Tarneit, Truganina and Point Cook compared with the established areas of Werribee and Hoppers Crossing.

Top twenty ancestry and countries of birth, Wyndham 2016

Percentage of the population that is born overseas, Wyndham, 2016¹

In 2016, 143,633 or 66.2% of Wyndham residents have at least one parent that was born overseas, which is higher than that proportion for Greater Melbourne (57.2%).

Wyndham and Greater Melbourne country of birth status of parents, 2016

While the number of Wyndham residents born in Australia increased by 77,327 people between 2006 and 2016, the proportion of the total population has declined. In 2006 more than two thirds of Wyndham residents were born in Australia (68.4%). This declined to 61.1% in 2011 and 52.8% in 2016, indicating a substantial shift in Wyndham’s demographics over time. This trend is likely to continue, barring a major immigration overhaul at the Commonwealth level.

The number of Wyndham residents born in India increased by 14,301 or 176.7% between 2011 and 2016. While the number of Wyndham residents that were born in China increased by only 3,038 people between 2011 and 2016, this was still a substantial increase of 122.2%. 

Population changes from 2011 to 2016 for Wyndham residents’ top six countries of birth

The table below shows the growth (in population size) of the communities that have experienced the largest population increases between 2011 and 2016. The table does this for both ancestry and country of birth, and includes the 2006-2011 period as a reference point to identify whether communities are likely to experience more growth in the coming years.

Top 20 ancestry and country of birth growth (in population size) between 2011 and 2016

Note that in many cases ancestry and country of birth are the same. This is not the case for those who indicate Punjabi or Sikh ancestry, although most of these residents will likely have been born in India or Australia. Furthermore, the Maori population will be from either New Zealand or one of the Pacific Islands. The Karen population largely comes from Thailand and Myanmar.

If the increase in the number of people from specific communities was greater between 2011 and 2016 than between 2006 and 2011, then it was assumed that this trend will continue between 2016 and 2021, that being, the increase in the number of people from specific communities will be even greater between 2016 and 2021 than between 2006 and 2011 or 2011 and 2016.

If the increase in the number of people from specific communities between 2011 and 2016 was less than that between 2006 and 2011, then it was assumed that this trend will continue between 2016 and 2021, that being, the increase in the number of people from specific communities between 2016 and 2021 would be lower than that observed between 2006 and 2011 or 2011 and 2016. Applying these assumptions, the table below indicates for each of the communities whether their growth is likely to increase further, stay the same, or decline.

Projected growth trends Wyndham 2016

It is assumed that residents from four countries of birth as well as 12 ancestries are likely to experience increased growth between 2016 and 2021 than that observed between the 2011 and 2016 and or 2006 and 2011. In particular, people with Indian, Chinese, Pakistani, Samoan, South Sudanese, Sikh and Punjabi ancestry are likely to experience increased growth between 2016 and 2021. 

On the other hand, growth in the group of residents with Australian, English, Scottish, Italian, Maori or Karen ancestry is likely to decline between 2016 and 2021 compared to the growth between 2011 and 2016 or 2006 and 2011.

Increased growth will likely be observed in the number of people born in Myanmar, Iran, Macedonia and South Korea between 2016 and 2021 when compared to that observed between 2011 and 2016 or 2006 and 2011. Growth in the group of residents born in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia is likely to decline between 2016 and 2021 compared to the growth between 2011 and 2016 or 2006 and 2011.

Note that residents with Vietnamese ancestry are likely to increase growth between 2016 and 2021 when compared to growth between 2011 and 2016 or 2006 and 2011. Those who were born in Vietnam are likely to see decreasing growth between 2016 and 2021 when compared to growth between 2011 and 2016 or 2006 and 2011. This community is one of the previous migration flows; those who moved to Wyndham are now raising families locally.

Additionally, the Nepalese community has seen substantial shifts between 2011 and 2016 that would be remiss not to mention. The Nepali-identifying population increased from 172 to 567 over this period, and is likely to experience further growth in the coming years.

Emerging Communities between 2006 and 2016

Another way to identify which groups are likely to experience ongoing accelerated growth towards the next Census is by looking at emerging communities. Emerging communities are those groups that have grown by more than 20 people and have seen a population increase of 50% or more over the last decade.

The first graph below displays the top 15 emerging communities in Wyndham according to country of birth. That is, those that follow India, New Zealand, China and the Philippines. These four countries have seen substantial growth that eclipses that of other countries.

The top four largest emerging communities according to country of birth with a combined growth between 2006 and 2016 of more than 41,000 people are those born in  India, New Zealand, China and the Philippines. The growth in the next 15 emerging communities is half of the top four: people born in Pakistan, Burma, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, Sudan/South Sudan, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Lebanon and Fiji have seen a combined growth of 21,500 residents between 2006 and 2016.

Similarly, the second graph displays the top 15 emerging communities in Wyndham according to ancestry, with the exception of those with Indian, Chinese and Filipino ancestry which form the top three with a total growth of nearly 49,000 between 2006 and 2016. Other 15 communities that can be considered emerging communities with a total growth of over 35,000 people are those with Pakistani, Punjabi, Sri Lanka, Burmese (including the Karen community), Maori, Vietnamese, Bangladesh, Ethiopian, Sudanese, Lebanese, Samoan, New Zealander, Macedonian and Serbian ancestries.

The emerging communities are very similar to the communities identified in the projected growth trends above. In fact, almost all countries of birth and ancestries in the two graphs below are identified in the projected growth trend analysis above. Only three countries of birth (Singapore, South Africa and Fiji) and two ancestries (Macedonian and Serbian) are not identified in the projected growth trends above. In all cases that is due to their growth occurring between 2006 and 2011 rather than between 2011 and 2016.

It is important to note that emerging communities reflect communities that have grown between 2006 and 2016, and that not all of those may be projected to grow further. The trends identified earlier are determined based on the likelihood of continued growth following from the 2006-2011 and 2011-2016 periods. A comparison of two five-year periods is more amenable to determining trends that the ten-year growth.

Emerging communities in Wyndham by country of birth: population in 2006 and population growth over 2006-2016 excluding India, China, New Zealand and the Philippines

Emerging communities in Wyndham by ancestry: population in 2006 and population growth over 2006-2016 excluding Indian, Chinese and Filipino ancestries

In 2016, most (53.1%) of Wyndham residents spoke English only. Just over one third of Wyndham residents (35.2%) speak another language while speaking English very well or well. Approximately 5.7% of Wyndham residents speak another language and speak English not well or not at all.

English language proficiency of Wyndham residents

The proportion of Wyndham’s population that speak a language other than English at home (40.7%) is higher than Greater Melbourne (32.2%).

The proportion of people who speak a language other than English at home varies across the City. The figure below maps the proportion of Wyndham residents that speak a language other than English at home across the different locations in Wyndham in 2016. In Wyndham, Truganina has the highest proportion of people speaking a language other than English at home.  

Map of Wyndham population speaking a language other than English at home, 2016²

In 2016, the most common language spoken at home in Wyndham was English. This was followed by Punjabi and Hindi. 

Top ten languages spoken at home, Wyndham - 2016

When translating materials for the community, it is important to not only consider the most common languages that residents speak at home but also their English proficiency. Most residents who speak English not well or not at all speak Mandarin (17.1%) or Karen (10.1%) at home. The top ten languages spoken at home by Wyndham residents who speak English not well or not at all are listed in the table below. 

Top ten languages spoken at home by Wyndham residents who speak English not well or not at all, 2016

The most common languages spoken at home by residents who speak English not well or not at all differ across the municipality. The top five languages spoken at home by residents who speak English not well or not at all are listed in Table 7 by suburb. In some suburbs, there are fewer than ten residents who speak English not well or not at all. These suburbs are not included in the table below.

Five top languages spoken at home for residence who speak English not well or not at all by select Wyndham suburbs

It is recommended to refer to the languages listed in the first table when translating materials for all Wyndham residents. For translating materials that are tailored to communities from specific suburbs, it is recommended to refer to the table above. 

In 2016, almost half of Wyndham residents affiliated with Christianity (46.1%). This was followed by almost one quarter of residents (23.0%) who affiliated with secular beliefs, other spiritual beliefs or no religious affiliation. These trends resembled that for Greater Melbourne and Victoria. 

Religious affiliation - Wyndham, Greater Melbourne and Victoria, 2016