PUBLIC hostility towards Muslims is much greater in Sydney than Melbourne — by a factor of two to one — with immigrants far more dispersed across the Victorian capital, according to a social survey.

The findings show Sydney is home to a higher percentage of people born overseas than Melbourne, but they are typically poorer and concentrated in fewer suburbs than those in Victoria.

The targets of racism in Australia have also changed – Indians are now most often singled out rather than the past focus on people of east Asian descent, despite official attempts in recent years to calm anger over a spate of attacks on Indian students.

The stock take of attitudes towards immigrants offers an insight into the experience of a growing national population – up 3 million in the past decade, a figure that includes births as well as migrant intake.