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FACT SHEET: Muslim & Arab Australians in Victoria

1. Muslim Australians

*Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2001 Census.

Figure 1: Australian Muslim population by state and territory
Figure 1: Australian Muslim population by state and territory. Click here to text version.

Source: ABS, 2001 Census. Basic Community Snapshots and Profiles.
Click here for text only version.

Table 1: Geographic Distribution of Muslims in Australia, 2001
State/territory
Proportion of all Australian Muslims
Proportion of total state or territory population
New South Wales 50% 2.2%
Victoria 33% 2.0%
Western Australia 7% 1.1%
Queensland 5% 0.4%
South Australia 3% 0.5%
Australian Capital Territory 1% 1.1%
Northern Territory 0.3% 0.5%
Tasmania 0.3% 0.2%
Total
100%
1.5%

Source: ABS, 2001 Census.

Table 2: Distribution of Australian Muslims by major statistical local areas in Melbourne statistical division, 2001
Statistical local area Number
Western Melbourne 16,521
Hume City 15,739
Moreland City 9,403
Greater Dandenong City 8,667
Northern Middle Melbourne 6,927
Northern Outer Melbourne 5,884
Eastern Middle Melbourne 5,111
South Eastern Outer Melbourne 4,641
Inner Melbourne 4,633
Southern Melbourne 3,475
Melton-Wyndham 2,695
Eastern Outer Melbourne 1,819
Boroondara City 980
Frankston City 828
Yarra Ranges Shire Part A 278
Mornington Peninsula Shire 154
Total for Melbourne Statistical Division 87,755

*Source: ABS 2001 Census, Unpublished Data.

2. Arab & Middle-Eastern Australians

*Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2001 Census.

Definitions

Defining who is an ‘Arab’ or exactly which countries lie within the Middle East is a complex matter.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines the Middle East as: Bahrain, Gaza Strip and West Bank (Palestine), Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen. North Africa is defined as: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and the Western Sahara. ‘Arab’ includes: Algerian, Egyptian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Kuwaiti, Lebanese, Libyan, Moroccan, Palestinian, Saudi Arabian, Syrian, Tunisian.

This summary uses ABS definitions and highlights specific countries of origin for a significant number of Australians. These countries are: Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Israel. Other Middle Eastern, North African and Arab countries with much smaller representation in Australian are grouped into two categories:

Table 3: Main countries of birth of Australians of Middle Eastern & North African origin, 2001
Country of birth
Number
Lebanon 71 349
Egypt 33 432
Turkey 29 821
Iraq 24 832
Iran 18 789
Syria 6 710
Israel 6 574
Other Middle East 13 212
Other North Africa 8 918
Other not further defined 303
Total
213 940

Source: ABS, 2001 Census, Unpublished data.

Figure 2: State & territory distribution of Australians born in the Middle East & North Africa, 2001
Figure 1: State & territory distribution of Australians born in the Middle East & North Africa, 2001 . Click here to access text version.

Source: ABS, 2001 Census. Basic Community Profiles and Snapshots.
Click here for text only version.

Table 4: Australians born in the Middle East or North Africa in major statistical areas of Melbourne, 2001
Statistical Local Area
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Lebanon
Syria
Turkey
Other Middle East
Other North Africa
Total
Hume (C) - Broadmeadows
575
145
1803
1667
336
4429
139
56
9150
Whittlesea (C) - South
682
88
510
990
157
779
150
54
3410
Moreland (C) - North
361
28
807
941
99
879
84
48
3247
Darebin (C) - Preston
369
97
470
1145
113
223
131
93
2641
Moreland (C) - Coburg
277
56
156
1274
73
620
73
26
2555
Manningham (C) - West
551
521
47
478
74
224
244
125
2264
Brimbank (C) - Keilor
619
43
68
533
120
392
68
85
1928
Hume (C) - Craigieburn
154
63
355
254
56
835
47
11
1775
Gr. Dandenong (C) - Dandenong
281
51
204
477
48
401
134
88
1684
Moreland (C) - Brunswick
161
36
101
710
70
351
47
35
1511
Kingston (C) - North
390
17
107
211
33
512
81
33
1384
Gr. Dandenong (C) Bal
174
37
101
183
17
583
76
78
1249
Casey (C) - Hallam
286
26
70
292
63
357
140
12
1246
Brimbank (C) - Sunshine
382
15
34
256
33
364
36
108
1228
Monash (C) - Waverley East
348
82
58
127
28
269
90
35
1037
Hobsons Bay (C) - Altona
132
11
29
648
13
31
44
113
1021
Moonee Valley (C) - Essendon
206
41
46
156
23
182
49
186
889
Maribyrnong (C)
151
50
106
111
13
192
49
151
823
Darebin (C) - Northcote
137
27
50
409
22
45
21
34
745
Moonee Valley (C) - West
298
66
13
172
30
92
26
44
741
Monash (C) - Waverley West
285
84
10
77
19
111
60
44
690
Banyule (C) - Heidelberg
132
64
26
317
31
45
57
13
685
Knox (C) - North
187
132
18
100
18
61
135
29
680
Knox (C) - South
266
53
23
96
13
80
53
18
602
Melbourne (C) - Remainder
178
27
19
57
4
142
54
90
571
Hobsons Bay (C) - Williamstown
53
6
6
314
14
22
25
101
541
Glen Eira (C) - Caulfield
219
27
19
84
7
68
29
67
520
Wyndham (C) - North
125
28
6
154
11
69
47
70
510
Glen Eira (C) - South
187
16
11
123
15
62
53
29
496
Monash (C) - South-West
184
41
33
57
7
45
31
54
452
Whitehorse (C) - Nunawading W.
148
105
12
60
15
30
56
20
446
Yarra (C) - North
94
28
23
59
10
198
7
20
439
Whitehorse (C) - Nunawading E.
138
125
10
44
7
44
29
21
418
Casey (C) - Cranbourne
83
21
18
92
4
144
31
11
404
Kingston (C) - South
142
21
6
58
6
130
23
10
396
Bayside (C) - South
127
18
8
70
7
95
31
37
393
Casey (C) - Berwick
122
16
5
68
12
77
48
23
371
Banyule (C) - North
128
35
9
110
11
33
28
6
360
Frankston (C) - West
132
26
24
89
8
26
26
16
347
Stonnington (C) - Prahran
114
56
5
39
9
70
18
22
333
Whitehorse (C) - Box Hill
91
67
8
49
6
39
13
55
328
Port Phillip (C) - St Kilda
124
21
11
54
9
66
23
18
326
Boroondara (C) - Camberwell N.
95
85
0
52
6
41
19
9
307
Port Phillip (C) - West
100
11
13
35
3
71
10
24
267
Yarra Ranges (S) - South-West
61
36
8
74
6
33
29
14
261
Stonnington (C) - Malvern
110
19
5
27
4
49
24
10
248
Boroondara (C) - Camberwell S.
74
53
3
43
4
25
22
12
236
Maroondah (C) - Ringwood
50
70
34
22
5
17
14
18
230
Melton (S) - East
63
12
16
56
4
34
14
15
214
Bayside (C) - Brighton
80
23
6
34
6
19
27
12
207
Melton (S) Bal
93
6
6
19
9
42
13
18
206
Boroondara (C) - Kew
72
41
17
19
7
22
15
10
203
Maroondah (C) - Croydon
32
32
5
57
3
20
30
8
187
Yarra (C) - Richmond
57
14
0
16
3
81
4
7
182
Boroondara (C) - Hawthorn
41
22
6
16
6
16
21
12
140
Nillumbik (S) - South-West
60
7
0
29
6
18
9
8
137
Mornington P'sula (S) - South
74
3
0
10
0
9
11
7
114
Mornington P'sula (S) - West
49
10
0
20
0
12
12
5
108
Nillumbik (S) - South
31
22
3
23
0
3
6
6
94
Frankston (C) - East
15
3
4
28
4
17
17
0
88
Hume (C) - Sunbury
23
4
7
25
0
9
9
6
83
Manningham (C) - East
26
19
0
17
0
4
8
3
77
Melbourne (C) - Inner
15
7
0
8
3
10
19
3
65
Whittlesea (C) - North
18
0
0
20
0
13
14
0
65
Wyndham (C) - West
16
0
3
12
0
5
4
10
50
Mornington P'sula (S) - East
26
0
3
8
0
0
3
0
40
Cardinia (S) - Pakenham
6
8
3
8
3
5
0
3
36
Melbourne (C) - S'bank-D'lands
11
6
3
4
0
3
6
0
33
Cardinia (S) - North
9
0
0
3
0
7
3
4
26
Wyndham (C) - South
7
0
0
4
0
9
3
0
23
Casey (C) - South
0
0
0
7
0
3
3
3
16
Yarra Ranges (S) - Central
0
0
0
8
0
3
4
0
15
Nillumbik (S) Bal
3
0
0
4
0
0
3
4
14
Yarra Ranges (S) - North
3
0
0
3
0
3
0
3
12
Cardinia (S) - South
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
6
Total for Melbourne SD
11116
3030
5590
13916
1746
14020
2982
2426
54826

*Source: ABS, 2001 Census, Unpublished data

Race Discrimination Unit, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, July 2003. ABS data used with permission from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.