Australia's 47th Parliament is the most culturally diverse yet. But the proportion of people from a non-European or an Indigenous background represented is still low. A new report by the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute has identified barriers migrant communities face towards joining politics, and is calling for more representation.
At 22-years-old, Anthony Tran became the youngest mayor elected in Maribyrnong's history.
The inner-city suburb in Melbourne has a diverse makeup, with a strong Vietnamese population.
He says his journey towards becoming a councillor was prompted by a desire to do something for his local community.
But it hasn't been without its barriers.
Until he became a councillor in Footscray, where 41.6 per cent of people were born overseas, he had never faced questions about his identity.
Caroline Zielinski is a journalist and author of a new report by the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute, titled, 'You Can't Be What You Can't See'.
She says people from migrant communities face several barriers to joining the political system - including language, education, and a lack of professional networks and resources.
Caroline Zielinski developed a series of recommendations to tackle these barriers.
She says it's a very complex task.
Councillor Anthony Tran says his own young age and cultural background have been big talking points, but he hopes to get to a point where they won't be.
