In 1929, when Melbourne’s population reached one million, the White Australia policy was still in place and the vast majority of overseas arrivals were born in England, Scotland or Ireland. But another group of immigrants had begun to arrive from Italy, marking the city’s first steps towards multiculturalism. The number of Italian-born people living in Victoria tripled between 1921 and 1933. Outside those born in the British Isles, they were the largest immigrant community. Soccorso Santoro was part of that wave when he traveled to Melbourne in June, 1930 aboard the Orient Line’s Orama. The 28-year-old settled in Carlton before establishing a doctor’s practice in Collins Street that served Italian-Australians. His son, George Santoro, was born five years later and followed in his father's footsteps, working as a general practice doctor for more than 40 years.

"He never spoke to me in English, which was very helpful because I got an honour in Italian in HSC and I needed all the help I could get," the 84-year-old laughs. The language barrier often caused problems for the early Italians living in Melbourne and George remembers that Australians were often hostile to the new arrivals. "We were all dagoes, you know. We had to expect to be dagoes," he says. After Australia declared war against Italy in 1940, during World War Two, Soccorso was taken to an enemy alien camp in country Victoria before being released six weeks later. George says he "never had a chip on his shoulder" about his father's internment or anti-Italian racism. "If they were rude to me I had to accept it, because they were fighting Mussolini," he says.

The impact the first Italians had on Melbourne's cuisine is still felt today. George remembers the front gardens in Richmond, where many Italians lived, being cleared to make way for tomato plants. "The Aussies next door would piss themselves laughing but the Italians always shared the tomatoes," he says. Steve Koukouvitakis

Arrived in Melbourne from Greece in 1964 Steve Koukouvitakis Credit:Simon Schluter Populate or perish was the mantra after the war, as Australia embarked on a large-scale immigration program that saw the nation’s population rise from 6.8 million in 1947 to 9.4 million by 1966.

Immigrants flocked to Australia from all over Europe. They came in their thousands from Greece. By the mid-1960s there were 140,000 Greeks living in Australia and most of those ended up in Melbourne, just as the city was reaching a population of 2 million. Stylianos 'Steve' Koukouvitakis arrived in Melbourne in 1964 to join his wife. He soon landed a job at General Motors building Holden cars. "After the second World War, all of Europe was destroyed," the 77-year-old says. "Our country had a lot of problems and we saw Australia as paradise." Steve says he didn’t have a lot of trouble adjusting to life in Australia, although he does remember racism and anti-immigrant attitudes. "There was a little bit of people thinking we come here to take their jobs, like what happens now," he says. "And they call us wogs or whatever they can think about but to be honest I don't bother."

It took him a couple of years to learn English, before starting his first business as a greengrocer. He still works at his son Nick’s furniture business ("where he tells us what to do every day," jokes Nick) and is proud that he has always had a job while living in Melbourne. Loading "I was working always, every day. Many times I did two shifts and worked for 16 hours a day," he says. "I never expect from the government or the other people." The hard work of migrants has helped make Melbourne a much better city, Steve says. "I'm 50 years here, when migrants come to Australia they seek work. They bring more jobs," he says. "I don't believe the migrants take the jobs of Australians. It's not true. We create more work."

Sang Li and Diep Tran

Arrived in Melbourne from Vietnam in 1987 Diep Tran and Sang Li with their daughter Celia Tran. Credit:Eddie Jim In the late 1980s, Melbourne had begun to embrace immigrants from Asian countries, particularly Vietnamese refugees fleeing their war-ravaged homeland after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Between 1981 and 1991, the number of people born in Vietnam living in Victoria grew from 13,000 to 44,000. Sang Li and Diep Tran tried to come to Australia by boat but were intercepted and taken to an Indonesian refugee camp for six months. They were allowed to come to Melbourne in 1987, the year before its population numbered 3 million people. "They basically had no choice, it was either starve and die or leave because it was unbearable living under the Communist regime," their daughter Celia says, when translating for her parents.

Sang and Diep, both 58, settled in Footscray, where they still live today. Diep still works as a labourer like he did then, while Sang stayed at home raising seven kids and doing odd jobs to help out with the family finances. They remember getting help from the network of other people from the Vietnamese community who lived in the area as they started their new life. Because their English is limited, they don't remember hearing much racism. They say that Melbourne has been welcoming to them and is the best city in the world. "My mum actually says that she find Australians really cute, that's her words not mine," laughs Celia. Diep says that multiculturalism has had a positive impact on Melbourne as it has grown.

"Everyone shares their culture and traditions and that's helped Melbourne become a better place," he says, via Celia. While a higher population has brought with it a strain on infrastructure and services, Diep and Sang say the schools, roads and public transport system are better in Melbourne now than when they arrived. "It's a fantastic city and they wouldn't ask for anything else," Celia says. Benu Bindra

Arrived in Melbourne from India in 2008 Benu Bindra Credit:Justin McManus

As Melbourne's population climbed to 4 million in 2010, the number of Indians living in Victoria was higher than any other group aside from people born in England. The Indian community grew significantly in the five years leading up to 2011, more than doubling from 53,000 to 112,000. Benu Bindra left Amritsar in India for Melbourne in 2008, inspired by Salaam Namaste, a romantic comedy about a young couple from India studying at La Trobe University. "The areas they shot were beautiful, especially the Great Ocean Road. I’m from North India and there are no beaches there," the 31-year-old says. "The lifestyle looked very appealing. The lead actress was working, studying and also had a personal life."

Benu studied for a business diploma, and these days, she works for accounting firm PwC. "In terms of personal and professional life, this city has given me a lot," she says. She's a citizen now and regards Melbourne as her home. But it hasn’t always been easy. Both of her parents were apprehensive - it was the first time anyone in her family had left India. "Indian culture can be conservative when it comes to daughters, it comes from a place of caring," she says. "From a cultural point of view, the only things I miss are my family, close friends and the festival season in India."

The self-proclaimed "coffee snob" loves the icons of Melbourne - the trams, laneways, arcades and cafes. But more important than that are the people, she says. "You really need good people around you when you’re away from your home country," she says. Juntao Xue

Arrived in Melbourne from China in 2018 Juntao Xue Credit:Joe Armao Melbourne has a long history of Chinese immigration, going right back to the gold rush in the 1850s. However, while other migrant groups began arriving in bigger numbers, the Chinese community remained relatively small until recently.

Between 1991 and 2016, the number of people born in China grew from around 20,000 to over 160,000, many of them to study at Melbourne's universities. Juntao Xue, 24, arrived in Melbourne this year on a student visa to undertake an IT course at RMIT. He lives in Box Hill with his housemates, who are also Chinese. He says he came to Melbourne because of its education system and the quality of the air, which is better than in China. He also likes the beaches and the architecture of the city's buildings. "Melbourne is a beautiful city," he says. "I would like to stay here after graduation and get a job here."

Xue says he experiences discrimination around once a month, usually when someone will say something to him on the street. "They say 'go back to your country', I don't care about it anymore," he says. "There are a lot of kind people, even though there are some bad guys." The cost of living and unreliable public transport system are other aspects of Melbourne that Xue doesn't like, but he says the employment conditions are better here for workers. "In Australia there is a fair working system. There is less working pressure here than in China," he says.