
Vietnamese Australians make up a significant minority group in Australia, with 334,781 people identifying as having Vietnamese ancestry in the 2021 census, representing 1.3% of the population. The integration of Vietnamese refugees and immigrants into Australian society has been a complex process, with the community playing a significant role in broader engagements in Australian politics and society. Sydney is home to Australia's largest Vietnamese community, with 72,615 Vietnamese speakers residing in the city as of the 2006 census. Vietnamese Australians are well-represented in the media and public life, with figures such as comedian Anh Do and filmmaker Khoa Do achieving prominence.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Population of Australians with Vietnamese ancestry | 334,781 (1.3% of the Australian population) |
| Population of Australian residents born in Vietnam | 268,170 |
| Population of Australians of Vietnamese ancestry in Victoria | 121,137 |
| Population of Australians of Vietnamese ancestry in Sydney | 72,615 (1.8% of the city's population) |
| Population of Australians of Vietnamese ancestry in Melbourne | N/A |
| Population of Australians of Vietnamese ancestry in Brisbane | N/A |
| Population of Australians of Vietnamese ancestry in Adelaide | N/A |
| Population of Australians of Vietnamese ancestry in Canberra | N/A |
| Population of Australians of Vietnamese ancestry in Perth | N/A |
| Percentage of Vietnamese Australians who are Buddhist | 44.7% |
| Percentage of Vietnamese Australians who are Christian | 23.5% |
| Percentage of Vietnamese Australians who are unaffiliated | 29.2% |
| Percentage of Vietnamese Australians who are secular or have no religious beliefs | 26.46% |
| Percentage of Vietnamese Australians who speak Vietnamese at home | 96% |
| Percentage of Australians of Vietnamese ancestry who stated another ancestry | 6% |
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What You'll Learn
- Vietnamese Australians are one of the biggest ethnic groups in the country, with 334,781 people stating Vietnamese ancestry in the 2021 census
- Vietnamese Australians are highly represented in Australian universities and many professions, including information technology, optometry, engineering, medicine, and pharmacy
- Melbourne suburbs like Richmond, Footscray, and St Albans have significant Vietnamese populations, with Springvale dubbed little Vietnam
- Sydney is home to Australia's largest Vietnamese community, with 72,615 Vietnamese speakers in 2006, and suburbs like Cabramatta, Bankstown, and Canley Vale having significant Vietnamese populations
- Vietnamese Australians retain a strong sense of their refugee history, and community associations, leaders, and media remain anti-Hanoi

Vietnamese Australians are one of the biggest ethnic groups in the country, with 334,781 people stating Vietnamese ancestry in the 2021 census
Vietnamese Australians are one of the largest ethnic groups in the country. According to the 2021 census, 334,781 people stated that they had Vietnamese ancestry, representing 1.3% of the Australian population. This number includes those who stated Vietnamese ancestry alone or in combination with another ancestry.
Victoria is home to one of the largest Vietnamese communities in Australia, with 121,137 people of Vietnamese ancestry residing in the state as of the 2021 census. Melbourne, in particular, has a significant Vietnamese population, with suburbs like Richmond, Footscray, Springvale, Sunshine, and St Albans known for their vibrant Vietnamese culture and businesses. The suburb of Cabramatta in Sydney is also notable for its large Vietnamese community, making up 24% of the suburb's population.
The presence of Vietnamese Australians is well-established in the country, with two waves of migration occurring in the 1970s and 1980s. The first wave came after the end of the Vietnam War, when Victoria became a popular destination for Vietnamese refugees. The second wave resulted from the Orderly Departure Program, an agreement between the Australian and Vietnamese governments, which allowed relatives of Vietnamese Australians to migrate to Australia.
Vietnamese Australians are well-integrated into various aspects of Australian society. They are avid consumers of Vietnamese media and entertainment, with variety shows like "Paris By Night" and radio programs in Vietnamese gaining popularity. The community has also made significant contributions to different professions, with many Australian-born Vietnamese Australians pursuing higher education and entering fields such as information technology, optometry, engineering, medicine, and pharmacy.
In terms of religious beliefs, the 2021 census revealed that 44.7% of Vietnamese Australians identified as Buddhist, 29.2% as unaffiliated, 23.5% as Christian, 0.7% as other religions, and 2.5% chose not to state their religious affiliation.
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Vietnamese Australians are highly represented in Australian universities and many professions, including information technology, optometry, engineering, medicine, and pharmacy
Vietnamese Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Vietnamese diaspora. According to the 2021 census, 334,781 people stated that they had Vietnamese ancestry, representing 1.3% of the Australian population. In 2021, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated that there were 268,170 Australian residents born in Vietnam.
Australian-born Vietnamese Australians are highly represented in Australian universities and many professions, including information technology, optometry, engineering, medicine, and pharmacy. In the past, some members of the community were subjected to poverty and crime. However, the community has made significant strides, and Vietnamese Australians now vary in income and social class levels.
In Melbourne, suburbs such as Richmond, Footscray, and St Albans have a significant proportion of Vietnamese Australians. Similarly, in Sydney, they are concentrated in Cabramatta, Bankstown, and Fairfield, while in Brisbane, they are mostly found in Darra and Inala. Significant Vietnamese Australian communities also exist in Adelaide, Canberra, and Perth.
Vietnamese Australians have made notable contributions to various fields. For instance, Hieu Van Le served as the 35th governor of South Australia and Chairman of the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission (SAMEAC). Dai Le, a Liberal Party-turned independent politician, became the first refugee and Vietnamese Australian to be elected to federal parliament. Additionally, Anh Do, a well-known comedian, actor, and author, has positively represented the Vietnamese Australian community in the entertainment industry.
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Melbourne suburbs like Richmond, Footscray, and St Albans have significant Vietnamese populations, with Springvale dubbed little Vietnam
Melbourne is home to a large population of Vietnamese Australians, with 75% of Vietnamese people in Australia living in Victoria. Melbourne suburbs like Richmond, Footscray, and St Albans have significant Vietnamese populations, with Springvale dubbed "little Vietnam".
Melbourne's Vietnamese community is diverse and vibrant, with a strong sense of its refugee history. The fall of Saigon in 1975 led to a wave of Vietnamese refugees, and Australia opened its doors, resettling Vietnam-born refugees under a refugee plan from 1975 to 1985. This was followed by another immigration peak in 1983-84 due to an agreement between Australia and Vietnam, allowing relatives of Vietnamese Australians to migrate. This historical context has shaped the strong Vietnamese presence in certain Melbourne suburbs.
Richmond, located just a few kilometers from Melbourne's CBD, is known for its vibrant Vietnamese community. The area blends colonial architecture with a large indoor market, reflecting the multicultural nature of the suburb. Footscray, another suburb with a substantial Vietnamese population, is a working-class area with a mix of colonial architecture and a bustling indoor market. Springvale, dubbed "little Vietnam," has a significant Vietnamese presence, with one in five residents born in Vietnam as of 2011. The Greater Dandenong area, which includes Springvale, is one of Melbourne's most multicultural regions, with 60% of residents born overseas.
In addition to these suburbs, St Albans in Melbourne's west also has a notable Vietnamese population. Melbourne's Vietnamese communities are well-integrated, with Vietnamese Australians represented in various professions and educational institutions. They have also retained their cultural heritage, as seen in their avid consumption of Vietnamese media and entertainment, including variety shows and news programs. Melbourne's Vietnamese population has contributed to the city's diverse and dynamic cultural landscape.
Overall, Melbourne's Vietnamese community is an integral part of the city's cultural fabric, and suburbs like Richmond, Footscray, Springvale, and St Albans serve as vibrant centers of Vietnamese culture and heritage within the broader Australian context.
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Sydney is home to Australia's largest Vietnamese community, with 72,615 Vietnamese speakers in 2006, and suburbs like Cabramatta, Bankstown, and Canley Vale having significant Vietnamese populations
Sydney is home to Australia's largest Vietnamese community. The 2006 census recorded 72,615 Vietnamese speakers in Sydney, or 1.8% of the city's population. This was out of a national population of 173,663 people of Vietnamese ancestry.
Sydney's local government areas with the highest numbers of Vietnamese speakers include Fairfield, Bankstown, Liverpool, and Canterbury. Suburbs with significant Vietnamese populations include Cabramatta, Cabramatta West, Canley Vale, Canley Heights, St Johns Park, and Fairfield.
Cabramatta has been a significant suburb for the Vietnamese community in Sydney. Many Vietnamese refugees and migrants settled in Cabramatta due to its relatively cheap land and housing prices and proximity to western Sydney's manufacturing sector, where many found their first jobs. Over time, the suburb developed a bustling culinary and commercial centre, with a great variety of Vietnamese-speaking professionals, including dentists, doctors, lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, and physiotherapists. While some Vietnamese Australians have moved to suburbs with higher socioeconomic profiles, others have returned to Cabramatta to open businesses, contributing to a vibrant community life.
Vietnamese Australians have become more integrated and accepted into the wider Australian community over time. Notable figures such as filmmaker Khoa Do, comedian Anh Do, and DJ Caroline Tran have risen to prominence in public life. Vietnamese Australians are well-represented in various professions and academic fields, and their culture has left an impact, with Vietnamese content and variety shows gaining popularity among the general Australian public.
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Vietnamese Australians retain a strong sense of their refugee history, and community associations, leaders, and media remain anti-Hanoi
Vietnamese Australians have a strong sense of their refugee history. The symbolic date of the foundation of the Australian chapter of the Vietnamese diaspora is 1975, the year Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese communist government. Before that date, there were fewer than 2,000 Vietnam-born people in Australia. In the weeks before the fall of Saigon, more than 3,000 orphan infants were evacuated by Operation Babylift, with many arriving in Australia. The first wave of refugees emerged as the communist government began to dismantle the old regime, sending some for re-education, causing others to lose their jobs, and forcing others to work on rural reconstruction projects.
The first Vietnamese refugees to arrive in Australia were those who came by boat, seeking asylum in neighbouring Asian countries. In 1976, the Lam brothers and their friends arrived in Australia, and since then, the country has become home to a thriving Vietnamese community. Australia took more than 15,000 refugees per year until 1983, when Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser lost government.
The second immigration peak was in 1983–84, likely due to the 1982 agreement between the Australian and Vietnamese governments (the Orderly Departure Program), which allowed relatives of Vietnamese Australians to migrate to Australia. The 2001 census showed that first-generation Australians of Vietnamese ancestry outnumbered second-generation Australians with Vietnamese ancestry (74% to 26%).
Vietnamese Australians maintain strong links with Vietnam through family, culture, religion, philanthropy, trade, and investment. Tens of thousands return to Vietnam annually, especially for the Tet or New Year celebrations. As refugees, first-generation Vietnamese Australians believe it is their duty to maintain Vietnamese culture and pass it on to their children. The 2006 census suggests that almost 90% of the second generation speaks Vietnamese at home, making it the most successfully maintained ethnic community language in Australia.
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Frequently asked questions
According to the 2021 census, 334,781 people stated that they had Vietnamese ancestry, representing 1.3% of the Australian population. Another source places this figure at 1.4%.
Sydney is host to Australia's largest Vietnamese community. In 2006, 72,615 Vietnamese speakers resided in Sydney, or 1.8% of the city's population. Suburbs with a significant proportion of Vietnamese Australians include Cabramatta, Cabramatta West, Canley Vale, Canley Heights, Bankstown, St Johns Park, and Fairfield. In Melbourne, suburbs with large Vietnamese communities include Richmond, Footscray, Springvale, Sunshine, and St Albans.
Up until 1975, there were fewer than 2,000 Vietnam-born people in Australia. Following the communist takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975, Australia agreed to resettle Vietnam-born refugees under a refugee resettlement plan between 1975 and 1985. There was a second immigration peak in 1983–84, likely due to an agreement between the Australian and Vietnamese governments that allowed relatives of Vietnamese Australians to migrate to Australia. The majority (27.9%) of the Vietnam-born population in Victoria arrived between 1981 and 1990, with another significant wave of migration between 1991 and 2000 (17.3%).











































