Clemton Park, a small suburb in Sydney’s inner southwest, has emerged as the nation’s top Greek-speaking area, with almost one in five households using Greek at home.
New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show 18.7 per cent of Clemton Park’s 1,676 residents reported speaking Greek at home in the 2021 Census – the highest proportion in Australia.
The ABS map of Greek-speaking communities revealed state-by-state leaders: Clarinda in Victoria (14.2 per cent), Torrensville in South Australia (11 per cent), Wagaman in the Northern Territory (9.8 per cent), Highgate Hill in Queensland (4.1 per cent), Forrest in the ACT (2.1 per cent), Noranda in Western Australia (1.5 per cent), and Tranmere in Tasmania (1.4 per cent).
When measured by population size rather than proportion, Earlwood, NSW, leads nationally with 3,272 Greek speakers, followed by Reservoir (VIC), Kingsgrove (NSW), Preston (VIC) and Marrickville (NSW).
While Melbourne’s Oakleigh remains an iconic hub of Greek culture, its suburbs individually rank lower, though Oakleigh, Oakleigh South and Oakleigh East together recorded 3,070 Greek speakers.
Overall, 229,643 Australians reported speaking Greek at home in 2021, making it the sixth most spoken language nationwide, with NSW (78,691 speakers) second only to Victoria (107,158).
Despite generational changes, the ABS noted Greek remains the most widely spoken Southern European language in Australia and a key marker of community identity.
