Community Profile
Community Profile and Population Data
Lebanese Community Profile and Population in Victoria
Lebanese Ancestry and Victoria’s Lebanon-born Population
(2006 Census)
Identification with Lebanese Ancestry in Victoria ranked top 18, with 34,754 persons, as xompared with 31,136 persons in 2001 Census.
In Victoria, 14,944 (1.3%) of the population were born in Lebanon (2006 Census).
Lebanon remains a country with one of the larger number of overseas arrivals between 2001 and 2006 (1,398 persons arriving or 0.7%), although this percentage is at the lower end of the scale, with the highest percentage of arrivals (12.4%) for India,
Over time, there has been a decrease in number of arrivals from Lebanon from 8,217 (before 1986) to 1,048 (1996 – 2000) to 1,398 between 2001 and 2006.
The Arabic Language in Victoria (2006 Census)
The Arabic language is the sixth most commonly spoken language at home, in Victoria (55,931), following (in order of most commonly spoken language) Italian, Greek, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Manadrin. Overall, the Arabic language is spoken by 5.6% of the total LOTE population.
Second to Mandarin, the Arabic language has the highest increase in number of speakers from 47,190 persons in 2001 to 55,931 persons in 2006.
In Victoria 9,442 persons who spoke Arabic indicated low English proficiency. A break down by age reveals the following population numbers: 0-11 years (2,537); 12-25 years (907); 26-44 years (2,432); 45-64 years (2,122) and 65+ years (1,444).
Local Government Area & Living Arrangements for Lebanon-Born
(2001 Census)
The majority (98.2%) of Lebanon-born lived in Metropolitan Melbourne (1,904 persons) and were distributed throughout the city. The largest concentrations were in the Local Government Areas of Moreland (2,931 or 20.7%), Hume (1,954 or 13.8%) and Darebin (1,558 or 11.0%).
The majority (72.6%) lived in a couple family with children type of household. 10.6% lived in a couple family without children household, and 9.1% lived in a one-parent family type household.
Home ownership for the Lebanon-born is high with 40.1% owning their own homes, and 26.3% were purchasing homes. 17.4% were renting private accommodation and 7.0% were renting public accommodation.
Victoria’s Age and Sex Population
of the Lebanon-Born Community (2001 Census)
The median age of the Lebanon-born was 40 years old.
The breakdown of the age structure for the Lebanon-born was: 2.7% were in age group 0-14; 8.3% were aged 15-24 years; 23.1% were aged 25-34 years; 26.7 % were aged 35-44 years; 20.2% were aged 45-54 years and 19.0% were aged 55 years.
The sex ratio for the Lebanon-born was 106 males to 100 females. The sex ratio was biased to males in all Local Government Areas except for Manningham and Casey.
Victoria’s Lebanon-born and Educational Qualifications (2001 Census)
Post-school qualification levels for Lebanon-born residents were lower than the total Victorian population, with 75.2% having mo post-school qualifications: 0.9% held post-graduate degrees; 0.5% held graduate diplomas and graduate certificates; 4.6% held Bachelor degrees; and 10.0% help diplomas.
Victoria’s Lebanon-Born and Employment (2001 Census)
The 2001 Census data revealed that the proportion of Lebanon-born in the labour force (42.6%) was lower than for total Victoria (48.2%), with an unemployment rate of 17.8% for the Lebanon-born community as compared with 6.8% for total Victoria.
Of the 4,961 Lebanon-born employed persons, 29.6% were professionals and associate professionals; 14.5 % were production and Transport workers; 13.1% percent were labourers and related workers, whilst 13.0% were tradespersons and related workers.
The majority (90.8%) of Lebanon-born were employed in the private sector. 2.1% were employed by the Commonwealth Government, 2.4 by the State Government and 0.4% in Local Government.
33.5% of the total Lebanon-born who were employed, worked in the wholesale and retail trade.
Weekly individual income levels for the Lebanon-born were lower than the total Victorian population with 8.9% receiving less than $80; 15.9% receiving between $80-$159; 32.2% receiving $160-$299 and 17.3% receiving between $500 and over.
Lebanon-Born and Religious Affiliation (2001 Census)
At the 2001 Census, 44.6% (6,316 persons) identified with the Muslim faith; 19.2% (2,718) identified as Western Catholic; 9.2 % (1,304) were Greek Orthodox; 7.0% (988) were Maronite Catholic; 3.4% (476) were Antiochian Orthodox, and 11.4% (1,617) followed other religions.
Source:
1. Victorian Office of Multicultural Affairs & Department of Victorian Communities (2003), Victorian Community Profiles 2001 Census. www.voma.vic.gov.au
2. Victorian Multicultural Commission & Australian Bureau of Statistics, Population Diversity in Local Councils in Victoria: 2006 Census. www.multicultural.vic.gov.au
