But fear of a Greek collapse are being felt beyond the ASX, and perhaps more keenly, in the homes of hundreds of thousands of Australians of Greek heritage, many of whom still have family living in the struggling nation. Marina Glinatsis is part of the Greek community in Earlwood, and says her local Baptist church has been praying and planning for family members in Greece at every meeting for months. "It's heartbreaking. Greece is really suffering. We are very concerned and many people are sending money, anything and everything they can to help," she said. Ms Glinatsis said many local families were exploring the options for supporting their Greek relatives to emigrate to Australia "A lot of families are trying to help people to migrate to Australia, but this is expensive and Greek families are often large. How do you pick?"

Even those in Greece who have international support networks may find it hard to access funds sent to them. Greek's banks remain closed, ATMs withdrawals are capped below $100 and people are lined up for blocks, often to find their queue disbanding when the machine runs out of cash before they reach it President of the NSW Greek Orthodox Community Harry Danalis said those sending funds were relying on international money transfer services. Mr Danalis, who has an uncle and cousins in Greece, led a protest outside the International Monetary Fund offices in Martin Place over the weekend. "Feeling is very high in the local community. The Greek people need to be heard without the blackmail from leaders of the European Union." Mr Danalis said between 10,000 and 15,000 Greeks had moved or returned to Australia since the ongoing Greek financial woes spiked in 2013.

He said this new crisis and the referendum this weekend could cause a mass exodus of Greeks from their homeland. Greek voters will decide whether to accept cost-cutting measures and higher taxes proposed by the struggling nation's creditors. "If they vote 'yes', the slow drain will likely continue. But if they vote 'no', that will be the impetus that pushes whoever can leave the country to do so." A 'no' vote would effectively indicate the Greek population no longer wanted to remain part of the European Union, which could upset markets even further. While most polling indicates a 'yes' vote is more likely, Greece could exit the European Union through defaulting or collapsing. Former chief executive of bond giant Pimco Mohamed El-Erian said there was an 85 per cent chance of Greece exiting the union. On Monday, the Euro fell 2 per cent as European equity markets continued to decline.

The ASX200 closed down 2.1 per cent at 5422.5 points on Monday. The Australian dollar held steady and continued to trade around US76¢.