CULTURAL, LINGUISTIC, AND MIGRANT DIVERSITY IN GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY – MARCH 2012

In Australia, global processes of migration not only impact on the national scale, but the very local spaces people inhabit – neighbourhoods, shops, streets, recreation facilities, and so on. The Greater Western Sydney region (GWS) has the highest levels of cultural diversity in the whole of NSW. Particular local government areas (LGAs), suburbs, and neighborhoods in the region possess dynamic cultural diversity in terms of birthplace, ancestral backgrounds, linguistic and religious practices, and the channels of migration through which migrants enter.

Drawing mainly on 2006 ABS Census data and recent DIMA Settlement Data, this paper provides statistical detail of this diversity and presents an analysis of the spatial dimensions to the region’s multiculturalism.

This data is mainly based on Census 2006 data. It will be updated with the Census 2011 data and DIMA settlement data once it is released.