Melbourne’s western suburbs have become something of a mini-Manilla.
Victoria’s Filipino population has soared in the past 40 years. Data from the most recent, 2011 census shows the number of Filipino migrants living in the state is almost 38 times what it was in the late 1970s.
Most of the state’s Filipino community has set up home in Derrimut, Burnside and Kings Park, where as many as 8.5 per cent of residents were born in the south-east Asian island nation.
Almost 5 per cent of Delahey, Deer Park, Cairnlea and Albanvale residents were born in the Philippines and speak Tagalog at home.
Australia Bureau of Statistics figures show there were about 42,300 Philippines-born residents in Victoria in 2011.
The Filipino Community Council of Victoria’s manager for aged and disability services, Norma Serrano, says the first influx of migrants to Australia was about 30 years ago.
The Sunshine North resident says Filipinos came for a better life, including good healthcare and generous government assistance.
Rod Lalunio came to Australia from the Philippines in 1991 after being sponsored by his aunt.
“We’re very Americanised, but Australia was the second choice [for emigrating Filipinos] in the 1990s,” Mr Lalunio said.
On Saturday, the Sunshine Hospital chaplain and pastoral associate at Holy Eucharist Parish Church in St Albans helped organise the ninth annual Filipino Mass. This parish now boasts a community of about 2400 members.
Mr Lalunio said a Filipino Mass had been held in the west for about 20 years. It was previously hosted at Our Lady of Immaculate Conception in Sunshine.
Holy Eucharist Parish priest Father Minh Tranh said housing affordability was a major reason Filipino migrants chose to live in Melbourne’s west, with many of them working as nurses or hospital orderlies.
