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Russian community profile

Information about the Russian community in Victoria including where they live and when they arrived, languages spoken, English language proficiency, religions and significant dates.

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These profiles are of Victorian communities, using the best available data we have from the 2021 Australian Census.

The Census defines ancestry as the cultural or ethnic group you most identify with.

We acknowledge that the profiles are not definitive. There are limitations and challenges in assigning ancestry or ethnicity to a specific ‘community’, especially as defined by geographical borders.

History

The main waves of Russia–born people arriving in Australia coincided with key political events and uprisings in Russia. The first Russian Revolution of 1905 saw many Russians flee and seek new lives in Australia. These included highly educated students, teachers and academics.

After World War II, many Russians arrived on assisted passages from Displaced Persons camps in Europe. A further group who had fled to China after the Revolution began to immigrate in the 1950s. In 1954, the number of Russian–born people in Victoria increased from 1,401 in 1947 to 13,762 people.

During the mid–1970s, several Russian Jews arrived under the sponsorship of the Jewish community in Australia. The 1990s onwards saw a significant increase in Russia–born people arriving in Victoria. This was a result of the break–up of the former Soviet Union and the emergence of the Russian Federation. This growth has remained steady throughout the 2000s. Many of these arrivals were well–educated professionals who understood the English language well.

Russian community

The Russian community in Victoria is the second largest in Australia. There are 27,398 people in Victoria who have Russian ancestries, of which 6,955 were born in Russia.

The gender breakdown for the Russian community is:

Most of the Russian community is older to middle–aged, with the largest cohorts aged 65 years and over (19.2%) and 35–44 (16.8%).

Insights for communication and engagement

The following are some key insights from the data when communicating and engaging with the Russian community:

For more insights about communicating with multicultural audiences, read the:

Better practice guide for multicultural communications PDF 3.35 MB (opens in a new window)

Better practice guide for multicultural communications - accessible version Word 2.33 MB (opens in a new window)

Location

Many people in the Russian community live in Melbourne’s south–eastern suburbs.

The City of Glen Eira is home to one of the largest Russian communities in Victoria with 4,365 people. The City of Kingston is next with 1,937 people.

The following 10 local government areas have the largest Russian communities.

Local government area Population
Glen Eira 4,365
Kingston 1,937
Bayside 1,322
Casey 1,499
Port Philip 1,255
Stonnington 1,105
Monash 1,054
Frankston 886
Melbourne 804
Wyndham 801

Russia-born population

The statistics below focus on people living in Victoria who were born in Russia. This will be referred to as the ‘Russia–born population’.

Language

The top languages spoken by the Russia–born population in Victoria are:

English language proficiency

The Russia–born population in Victoria has high levels of English language proficiency:

Religion

The Russia–born population identify with the following religions.

Years of arrival

Most of the Russia–born population in Victoria arrived from 1991– 2000 and 2001–2010. Only 1.5% arrived from 1951–1960.

Year of arrival Number of arrivals Percentage
1951-1960 104 1.5
1961-1970 89 1.3
1971-1980 383 5.5
1981-1990 460 6.6
1991-2000 1,885 27.1
2001-2010 1,688 24.3
2011-2015 1,111 16.0
2016-2021 1,009 14.5

Names

In Russian culture, names usually follow this order: [First name] [Middle patronymic name] [Surname]. The middle patronymic name is created using the child’s father’s name with the suffix ‘vich’ or ‘ovich’ for boys, and ‘avna’ or ‘ovna’ for girls. This means ‘son of’ and ‘daughter of’. In casual settings, people use first names to address each other. While in a more formal setting, the first name and middle names are used. Russians do not use titles such as ‘Mr and ‘Mrs’. It is also not usual to address someone using their surname face–to–face.

Significant dates

The following are some key dates of significance:

Sources of information

Communities

Updated 27 March 2024

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