"There are so many different ones now," Caroline Xu says, pointing to the five types of Chinese dumplings on the table at lunch.

Key points: Chinese-Australians point out they are not a homogenous group

Chinese-Australians point out they are not a homogenous group More than 1 million people in Australia claim Chinese ancestry

More than 1 million people in Australia claim Chinese ancestry Chinese-Australian candidates are running for Labor, the Liberals and the Greens in this election

"Those ones are from northern China. Those are from southern China. There was only one kind when I came to Australia 30 years ago.

"This is change."

The China she left in 1989 has changed too. That China, she said, was closed to the world.

Now, it's an economic powerhouse that continues to send a wave of students driving Australia's overseas education sector.

"This younger generation, they are educated in Western countries. They came to university to study and their language is better," she said.

Caroline Xu's family flourished in Australia in the 1990s.

Ms Xu is the epitome of the model migrant narrative.

Migrate to Australia. Work hard. Live the so-called Australian dream.

Recently, she was honoured with the Order of Australia medal for her community work as a teacher in Mandarin.

Yet despite her ease in the Australian community, she nominated social cohesion as her top priority, in an election where numerous candidates have been scratched because of hateful views, or been at the receiving end of racial vitriol.

"Make the community more harmonious," she said of politicians.

"Make people feel we're all Australian."

'Spies, communists and interference'

Chinese-Australians are quick to point out they are not a homogenous group or the stereotype of being "all the same".

Some are recently arrived migrants from the Chinese mainland who've only just become citizens. Others are descendants of the Gold Rush in the 1800s.

"In those families, they would be now fourth-, fifth-, even sixth-generation Australians," said Daphne Lowe Kelley, a respected community leader in Sydney.

They might be an ABC (Australian-born Chinese) or from Hong Kong, Taiwan or ethnically Chinese and from South-East Asia.

About 1.2 million people in Australia claim Chinese ancestry, according to the last Census.

Sorry, this video has expired George Megalogenis explains why Australia's 25th million resident will most likely be a female Chinese student

The media tropes used to describe this diverse cohort have ruffled many.

There's the cashed-up Chinese investors taking over Australian homes and farms; "Asians with PhDs" taking Australian jobs; or Chinese spies threatening national security.

The constant stream of stories, whether it's about Huawei or Huang Xiangmo, has rubbed off on the Australian community.

Daphne Lowe Kelley worries about how Chinese-Australians are viewed. ( ABC News: Jason Om )

"The PRC [People's Republic of China] has become strong. It's become a major power and this has changed people's attitudes," Ms Lowe Kelley said.

"What I don't like is that there is definite racism. The worst part is that it tends to tar the whole community.

"You've got many who are just trying to make a living.

"Sure, there are some rich ones. This is creating a certain amount of jealously, and that jealously goes over into hate speech."

The fear of speaking up

It's little wonder then that when asked, some Chinese-Australians are reluctant to go on the record. If they stick their head up, the mud might stick.

Some fear they'll be labelled a "Panda hugger" if they express their Chinese pride, according to Chinese-Australian writer and former Labor Party member Jieh-Yung Lo.

"There are some Chinese-Australian voters out there that are concerned at how the bilateral relationship between Australia and China has gone topsy-turvy over the past 18 months," he said.

"There's been a re-emergence of Sinophobia in the Australian community and I'm just hoping that the next Australian government will do their best to combat that."

Warren Wang, a small business owner and former Australian Conservatives member, is voting in his first Australian election, having lived in Sydney for the past six years.

Warren Wang has been active in politics in Australia. ( ABC News: Jason Om )

He believed the onus was on Australia's Chinese community to "fight bad behaviour".

"Most pro-China migrants are not dangerous [but] if you want to be an Australian, you should be pro-Australia rather than pro-China," he said.

"If you are working as an agent for any government, if they're not for Australia, then we need to question that."

Candidates making history

Chinese-Australian candidates are running for Labor, the Liberals and the Greens in this election.

The greatest chance of one of them being elected is in the marginal Melbourne seat of Chisholm, where Hong Kong-Australian Gladys Liu is standing for the Liberals and Taiwanese-Australian Jennifer Yang is contending for Labor.

Whoever wins will become the first Chinese-Australian woman in the House of Representatives.

Gladys Liu and Jennifer Yang go head-to-head in Chisholm. ( ABC News: Iris Zhao )

In Bennelong, where Labor ran Chinese-Australian candidate Jason Yat-Sen Li in the 2013 election, only the Greens are running a Chinese-Australian in that seat this year.

But for Caroline Xu — who lives in Bennelong — the mere fact some candidates were Chinese-Australian wasn't a deciding factor.

It's what they advocated that mattered, she said, just like any other candidate.

Her 25-year-old Australian-born son Ivan Chen agreed.

"At the end of the day, I'll look at their policy, them as a person, and how they treat the community," he said.