Did you know there’s a suburb in Australia where almost one in five households speak Greek at home?
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the suburb isn’t Oakleigh in Melbourne, but Clemton Park in New South Wales, near Earlwood.
The ABS recently shared a new map highlighting the most Greek-speaking suburbs across Australia, based on percentage of households where Greek is the main language spoken at home. The data, drawn from the 2021 Census, only includes areas with more than 1,000 residents.
State by state highlights
- NSW: Clemton Park leads with 18.7 per cent (from a population of 1,676).
- Victoria: Clarinda comes first with 14.2 per cent — around one in seven households.
- South Australia: Torrensville registers 11 per cent.
- Northern Territory: Wagaman records 9.8 per cent.
- Queensland: Highgate Hill stands at 4.1 per cent.
- ACT: Forrest records 2.1 per cent.
- Western Australia: Noranda at 1.5 per cent.
- Tasmania: Tranmere at 1.4 per cent.
Where the most Greek speakers live (absolute numbers)
When measured by total population rather than percentage, Earlwood, NSW comes out on top, with 3,272 people speaking Greek at home. It is followed by Reservoir (VIC), Kingsgrove (NSW), Preston (VIC), and Marrickville (NSW).
By comparison, Oakleigh and its surrounding suburbs — while iconic for their Greek culture — rank lower individually but collectively still record high Greek-speaking numbers, with Oakleigh South, Oakleigh, and Oakleigh East combining for 3,070 speakers.
Greek as a leading language
Excluding English, Greek remains the most spoken language in dozens of suburbs across the country. In Oakleigh, for example, 13.3 per cent of residents reported speaking Greek at home, placing it well ahead of Mandarin (6.8 per cent). Similar trends were observed in Oakleigh East, Oakleigh South, Williamstown, Newport, Yarraville, Port Melbourne, and Albert Park.
National picture
Across Australia, 229,643 people said they spoke Greek at home in the 2021 Census, making it the sixth most spoken language nationwide (seventh overall including English). This represented a small decline of around 8,000 speakers since 2016.
Victoria remains the state with the highest concentration, with 107,158 speakers, followed by New South Wales (78,691), South Australia (21,882), Queensland (10,475), Western Australia (4,520), Tasmania (1,126), Northern Territory (3,258), and ACT (2,527).
Greek identity in Australia
The ABS also noted that in 2021, 424,744 people identified as being of Greek background (and 40,091 as Cypriot), up from 2016 and 2011. This figure, however, is lower than community estimates which place the Greek and Cypriot population at between 600,000–700,000.
Despite generational shifts, Greek remains the most widely spoken Southern European language in Australia and continues to be a marker of identity in both long-established and emerging diaspora communities.
