The Australian Bureau of Statistics recently shared a map highlighting suburbs in each state and territory for highest percentage of people born in Greece.
This data is based on places with over 1,000 residents and excluded overseas visitors. It is also sourced from the 2021 Census.
Again, this is data on people born in Greece, not people born in Australia of Greek descent.
Earlwood, NSW takes the top spot with 7.4 per cent of its residents born in Greece.
That means of it’s 18,053 residents in the 2021 Census, over 1,335 of them were born in Greece.
Earlwood has long had the large population of Greeks. Nearby Marrickville was a major centre of Sydney’s Greek community in the 1950s and 1960s, but in the second half of the 20th century most of its Greek residents moved south and west into suburbs like Earlwood.
Victoria’s top suburb is Clarinda, in Melbourne’s south-east, with 6.9 per cent of its population born in Greece.
Of the 7441 residents in Clarinda, around 513 are Greek-born.
It’s no surprise a south-eastern suburb in Melbourne houses the most people born in Greece, given the area has long had a strong presence, with Oakleigh also being an eight-minute drive away.
But Clarinda isn’t the suburb with the most people born in Greece overall, that distinction belongs to the northern suburb of Reservoir.
Over in South Australia, the inner-western Adelaide suburb of Thebarton has the most Greek-born residents with 4.6 per cent of its 1,442 population. That is over 66 people born in Greece.
This is another area with a significant Greek-Australian population, being one of the suburbs with the largest Greek Australian population per capita in Australia.
It is also home to the largest Greek Orthodox church in Adelaide, St George Greek Orthodox Church on Rose Street.
While it may have the highest percentage of Greek-born people, it doesn’t have the most, Prospect does.
Wagaman in the NT also sees 4.6 per cent of its residents born in Greece, 94 people of the 2,023 that live there.
For Queensland, 2.7 per cent of people living in Highgate Hill, Brisbane, are born in Greece.
The 169 Greek-born residents also sees it with the most in the state overall and more Greeks than any other ethnicities, other than Australian and English.
Balcatta in Perth, WA, has a population of 10,813, and 1.3 per cent of them are born in Greece – around 140 people – But Dianella has the most overall with 152.
The area is popular among those from the Balkans and Southern Europe.
McKellar in ACT recorded one per cent of its population being Greek-born, while Primrose sands in Tasmania 0.7 per cent.
Again this is based on the 2021 Census, which recorded a total of 92,314 people born in Greece – 0.4 per cent of Australia’s total population.
It is also interesting to note that if Australia is excluded as the country of birth, Greece was first in terms of the percentage for many suburbs, especially in NSW.
In particular in Belmore with 5.9 per cent, Earlwood with 7.4 per cent, Hurlstone Park with 4.2 per cent, Pagewood with 2.9 per cent, Kyeemagh with 7.1 per cent, Brighton-Le-Sands with five per cent, Monterey with 5.9 per cent. Also in Ramsgate, Ramsgate Beach, Sans Souci and Dolls Point.
In Victoria: Thornbury with 4.2 per cent and Oakleigh with 6 per cent.
In South Australia Thebarton with 4.6 per cent and Brompton with 4 per cent.
In dozens of other suburbs across Australia, Greece was in the top five in this category.
