Mini vic.gov.au

This is a low bandwidth version of vic.gov.au. Contents may not be up to date. © Copyright State Government of Victoria

South Korean community profile

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

On this page

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

In 1945, Korea was divided into the North (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and the South (Republic of South Korea). The Korean population in Australia was quite low until the late 1960s because of the White Australia Policy (The Immigration Restriction Act 1901).

At the end of the Vietnam War (1975), many Koreans working for military contract firms moved to Australia. Some were granted permanent residency status and an increase in sponsored migration.

Between 1986 and 1991, there was an increase in Koreans arriving in Australia, with many arriving as skilled migrants and business people. The increase continued during the 1990s and early 2000s and was driven by South Koreans seeking economic and educational opportunities in Australia and through the family reunion program.

Victoria became a key destination in this period for South Koreans seeking higher education or sending their children for English language studies and university.

The 2021 Census data show that most of the South Korean community arrived in Victoria from 2001–2010 and migration continues to remain steady. As a result, a well–established Korean community has developed in Victoria, especially in Melbourne. This includes Korean churches, businesses, cultural groups, and other community organisations.

South Korean community

The South Korean community is one of the largest in Australia. There are 20,515 people in Victoria who have South Korean ancestry, of which 15,429 were born in South Korea.

The gender breakdown for the South Korean community is:

Most of the South Korean community is young to middle–aged, with the largest cohorts aged from 35–44 (22.9%) and 0–14 (22.3%).

Insights for communication and engagement

The following are some key insights from the data when communicating and engaging with the South Korean 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 South Korean community live in Melbourne’s central, south–eastern and eastern suburbs.

The City of Melbourne is home to one of the largest South Korean communities in Victoria with 2,706 people. The City of Monash is next with 2,509 people.

The following 10 local government areas have the largest South Korean communities.

Local government area Population
Melbourne 2,706
Monash 2,509
Whitehorse 1,514
Manningham 1,213
Wyndham 1,158
Knox 1,060
Casey 1,058
Boroondara 926
Glen Eira 898
Greater Dandenong 700

South Korea-born population

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

Language

The top languages spoken by the South Korea–born community in Victoria are:

English language proficiency

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

Religion

The South Korea–born population identify with the following religions:

Years of arrival

There are two significant points of arrival for the South Korea-born population: 2001–2010 and 2011–2015. Most of the Korean people in Victoria arrived between 2001 and 2015.

Year of arrival Number of arrivals Percentage
1951-1960 3 0.0
1961-1970 20 0.1
1971-1980 189 1.2
1981-1990 855 5.5
1991-2000 1,540 10.0
2001-2010 6,511 42.2
2011-2015 3,182 20.6
2016-2021 2,882 18.7

Names

In South Korean culture, names traditionally follow this order: [Family Name] [Given name]. Each Korean name usually consists of three syllables. The first is the family name while the second and third are the given name. The surname is inherited from the father’s side of the family, always comes before the given name, and is usually a single syllable or character.

To demonstrate respect, honorific titles like ‘Mr’ and ‘Mrs’ are commonly employed. It is considered inappropriate to address friends and acquaintances who are the same age or younger than oneself using their first name alone.

In international or English–speaking environments, many South Koreans adopt a ‘Westernised’ version of their original name by putting their given name first and surname last. For instance, KIM Min Su may be called Min Su KIM.

Significant dates

The Western calendar is widely used in Korea, but specific holidays are still celebrated based on the lunar calendar.

The following are some key dates of significance:

Sources of information

Communities

Updated 27 March 2024

About the VIC Government

Grants and programs

Jobs and careers

Arts, culture and heritage

Business and the workplace

Communities

Education and training

Environment, water and energy

Finance and economy

Health and social support

Housing and property

Law and justice

Safety and emergencies

Science and technology

Sport and recreation

Traffic and transport

Working in the Victorian Government