Frequently used abbreviations in this section
CLS: community language schools
ESB: English-speaking background
LBOTE: language background other than English
MESC: main English-speaking country
NESB: non–English speaking background16
NMESC: non-main English-speaking country
Indicators
A1 Number of children and students being funded to learn languages in CLS17
Year
Number of funded CLS
Number of languages being learned
Total children or students
2023
176
48
40,712
2022
178
52
37,240
Top 20 government-funded languages being learned in Victorian CLS in 2023
Language
Number of children or students funded
Chinese (Mandarin)
16,802
Greek
4,234
Arabic
3,998
Vietnamese
3,913
Tamil
1,620
Sinhala
1,012
Japanese
851
Dari
700
Bangla
639
Russian
519
Korean
499
Punjabi
491
Assyrian
457
Somali
424
Cantonese
410
Persian
362
Serbian
359
Urdu
320
Dinka
271
Hebrew
265
A2 Students enrolled in VCE language studies (unit 4) in Victorian schools in 202318
Language
Enrolments
Chinese Mandarin
1,981
French
1,539
Japanese
983
Italian
580
German
427
Indonesian
348
Vietnamese
343
Latin
255
Greek
196
Arabic
105
Persian
103
Spanish
92
Turkish
69
Hindi
55
Punjabi
48
Tamil
46
Hebrew
43
Russian
38
Khmer
36
Korean
31
Auslan
20
Karen
20
Serbian
18
Sinhala
18
Macedonian
17
Dutch
16
Bosnian
14
Portuguese
13
Romanian
12
Polish
11
Chin Hakha
10
Classical Greek
10
Croatian
9
Filipino
8
Bengali
7
Swedish
7
B1 Proportion of survey respondents who ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that accepting immigrants from many different countries makes Australia stronger19
Year
Survey respondents (%)
2024
71
2023
78
2022
78
2021
76
2020
74
2019
71
2018
67
B2 Number of complaints made to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission under the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 200120
Year
Number of complaints
2023–24
14
2022–23
22
2021–22
12
2020–21
34
2019–20
18
2018–19
9
2017–18
18
2016–17
8
2015–16
13
2014–15
106
2013–14
25
B3 Number of complaints made to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission in relation to discrimination on the basis of race and religious belief under the Equal Opportunity Act 201021
Year
Number of complaints
2023–24
250
2022–2322
234
2021–22
165
2020–21
240
2019–20
196
2018–19
244
2017–18
272
2016–17
254
2015–16
196
2014–15
147
2013–14
272
B4 Proportion of Victorians from a non–English speaking background who feel multiculturalism at least sometimes makes life better in their area23
Year
ESB (%)
NESB (%)
2023
65.2
70.4
2022
65.0
67.5
202124
N/A
N/A
2020
63.6
62.7
2019
54.8
58.1
2018
51.8
60.3
2017
51.1
58.2
2016
46.7
56.6
2015
50.1
55.7
2014
54.0
59.2
201325
-
-
B5 Proportion of adults who felt they experienced discrimination or were treated unfairly by others in the past year because of their skin colour, nationality, race, ethnic group or identifying as Aboriginal26
Ethnicity of adults who experienced racism
Proportion (%) of adults who experienced racism in the past 12 months
Aboriginal
19.0
ESB (only spoke English at home)
3.6
NESB (spoke a LOTE at home)
17.4
All Victorian adults
7.3
C1 Number of Victorian children from a non–English speaking background enrolled in a Victorian government-funded kindergarten program27
Year
NESB children enrolled in kindergarten
2023
29,941
2022
26,703
2021
16,305
2020
14,818
2019
16,303
2018
18,195
2017
16,741
2016
14,044
2015
11,657
2014
9,904
C2 Unemployment rate of Victorians born in non-main English-speaking countries compared with the unemployment rate of all Victorians28
Year
NMESC-born (%)
All Victorians (%)
June 2024
4.8
4.3
June 2023
4.4
3.5
June 2022
3.6
3.1
June 2021
5.9
4.3
June 2020
9.0
7.1
June 2019
7.0
4.5
June 2018
6.7
5.3
June 2017
6.9
5.6
C3 Workforce participation rate of Victorians born in non-main English-speaking countries compared with the workforce participation rate of all Victorians29
Year
NMESC-born (%)
All Victorians (%)
June 2024
66.2
67.9
June 2023
66.7
67.8
June 2022
63.9
67.1
June 2021
62.5
66.1
June 2020
60.7
64.4
June 2019
61.6
66.1
June 2018
60.0
65.6
June 2017
58.0
66.1
Updated