40% of the population were born overseas and 43% speak a language other than English.
The largest non-English language groups include Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Greek, Italian and Spanish.
9.9% of the population do not speak English well or at all.
Social and Economic Disadvantage
Braybrook and the City of Maribyrnong are the 4th most disadvantaged suburb and municipality respectively, in the metropolitan area on the SEIFA index of disadvantage.
The unemployment rate is relatively high. As of the September 2012 quarter, the unemployment rate was 7.9% for the City compared to the Melbourne average of 5.5%, and the national average of 5.2%.
Unemployment is highest in Braybrook which has an unemployment rate of 15%
Between 2003 and 2008, the city welcomed 4,769 new arrivals. The majority were skilled economic migrants, followed by family migration, and humanitarian entrants. Key statistics:
A large proportion of arrivals under humanitarian migration arrived with low to poor English language skills.
The majority of new arrivals were in the 20–29 year age bracket, with the majority male.
A large percentage of arrivals are from India, China, Bangladesh and Pakistan and are settling through the skilled migration stream.
Over 90% of new arrivals from Burma and Sudan are humanitarian migrants.
Approximately 5,392 businesses employ in excess of 35,000 people, although the resident workforce is only around 28,246. Manufacturing was the largest employer of residents with 3,451 employees, followed by retail with 2,668, health care 2,576; scientific and technical services 2,185 and education with 2,145. Key employers include Victoria University, Western Health, Lonely Planet, Highpoint Shopping Centre, Western Bulldogs, Mobil Australia and Sugar Australia. On average, 34% of the labour force has university qualifications. In some neighborhoods the proportion reaches 53%. The highest concentration of university qualified residents is in the Footscray/Seddon/Yarraville corridor.
Education
Tertiary
has two principal campuses located in Footscray with a student population of around 15,000 and staff of almost 1,200. This represents the largest concentration of tertiary activity in Melbourne's West. Victoria University is Maribyrnong City Council's largest employer, second only to Western Health.
Secondary
Five secondary schools employ approximately 530 staff and enroll more than 4,000 students. Maribyrnong Secondary College became Victoria's first public elite sports school.
Libraries
The Council library service has five branches: Footscray, Maribyrnong at Highpoint Shopping Centre, West Footscray, Yarraville and Braybrook. Reflecting the multiculturalism of the community, the library service has a large amount of non-English material. A new branch library at the Bradmill Precinct is planned to replace Yarraville Library.
