We are Moonee Valley

27 per cent.

Nearly 27 in every 100 Moonee Valley residents speak a language other than English at home. It is among the highest shares of any council in Victoria.

Our population
120,234
Speak another language
32,620
Languages at home
117
Growth since last census
−1.4%

One in 4 of us speaks a language other than English at home: 33k people, most often Italian, Greek and Vietnamese. That is not a fringe of the community. It is a standing share of every audience anyone here is trying to reach.

In Victoria

#18

of 79 Victoria councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #76 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Italian

6,685 speakers

Italian is spoken by 6,685 of our residents at home, 5.6% of Moonee Valley.

Greek

3,505 speakers

Greek is spoken by 3,505 of our residents at home, 2.9% of Moonee Valley.

Vietnamese

2,902 speakers

Vietnamese is spoken by 2,902 of our residents at home, 2.4% of Moonee Valley.

The languages of Moonee Valley

117 languages carry the conversation at home. Every one of them is spoken here.

Each block below is scaled to the number of people who speak that language at home, and tinted by how fast that community has grown since the last census.

  • Grew 50%+
  • 25%+
  • 10%+
  • Held
  • Slipped
  • Declined 10%+
  • Not comparable
The 18 most spoken languages in Moonee Valley, covering 26,193 speakers. Area is speakers at the 2021 Census; tint is the change since 2016. Every figure is also in the table below.

Every language, in order

Speakers at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016. Broader ABS categories such as “Chinese, nfd” are counted in our totals but left out of this list, so the percentages can exceed the sum of the languages shown.

  1. 01
    Italian
    6,685-15.5%
  2. 02
    Greek
    3,505-3.3%
  3. 03
    Vietnamese
    2,902+8.4%
  4. 04
    Mandarin
    2,000-4.2%
  5. 05
    Arabic
    1,826+9.5%
  6. 06
    Cantonese
    1,807+2.2%
  7. 07
    Spanish
    1,398+12.7%
  8. 08
    Croatian
    912-2.6%
  9. 09
    Hindi
    842-6.3%
  10. 10
    Turkish
    821+41.3%

Fastest-growing among us

Nepali

+60.5% since last census

We share this portrait because Moonee Valley is, genuinely, not an “average” council. Services designed for the median Victoria resident arrive here in the wrong language. This almanac exists so that nobody writing policy about us — federal, state, corporate or media — can say they did not know.

Nepali grew 60.5% since the last census, to 589 speakers. A community growing at that rate is one whose translation needs are ahead of the last set of figures anyone commissioned.

Who we are, beyond language

Where we were born

25.3% of us were born overseas, across 138 countries.

  1. 01
    Italy
    4,406-9.0%
  2. 02
    India
    2,744+1.4%
  3. 03
    Vietnam
    2,469+7.1%
  4. 04
    England
    2,173+4.3%
  5. 05
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    1,570-13.4%
  6. 06
    New Zealand
    1,458+8.6%
  7. 07
    Greece
    1,326-3.6%
  8. 08
    Philippines
    805+30.9%
  9. 09
    Malaysia
    753+22.6%
  10. 10
    Nepal
    626+70.6%

What we believe

Reported affiliation in Moonee Valley at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.

  1. 01
    Christianity
    65,447-1.1%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    39,377+28.2%
  3. 03
    Islam
    4,200+23.7%
  4. 04
    Buddhism
    3,149+10.0%
  5. 05
    Hinduism
    2,752+12.9%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    66+29.4%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 15 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Moonee Valley shaded by the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. Boundaries are ABS ASGS 2021. See every council on one map.

In context

Moonee Valley
27.1%
Victoria
26.6%
Australia
21.3%

27.1% of Moonee Valley residents speak a language other than English at home, against 26.6% for Victoria and 21.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 Census.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2021, language used at home by Statistical Area Level 2, aggregated to Local Government Area. Growth compares 2021 against the 2016 Census.

How the headline share is counted. 27.1% is 32,620 residents as a share of all 120,234 of us. A further 4,771 did not state a language at all, and we do not count them as speaking one — counting every non-response as a non-English speaker would put this figure at 31.1%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 28.3%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Moonee Valley, it is almost certainly one of those two.

Two further caveats we would rather state than bury. Summing suburbs omits residents not allocated to one — no usual address, migratory and unincorporated areas — so national totals sit a little under the ABS published figures; the Moonee Valley figures on this page are unaffected. And ranked language lists exclude ABS residual categories such as “Chinese, nfd”, which are not languages anyone can order a translation in; they remain inside the headline total.

Need this community reached in its own languages? Talk to us about translation in Moonee Valley.