Festivities for the Year of the Rooster have begun in Melbourne with families making the most of a sunny weekend to enjoy traditional Chinese performances.
Melbourne marked the start of Chinese New Year Festival on Satuday with lion and dragon dances at a ceremony in the city's iconic Federation Square.
More than 250,000 people in the state are expected to celebrate their Chinese heritage this weekend.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten told the crowd gathered that the celebrations were but one example of the many contributions Chinese migrants have made to Australia since the gold rush days.
"It's good to celebrate the Chinese community," he said.
"I cannot imagine Australia without our Chinese community."
He also said Australia has nothing to fear about the rise of China.
"We see in the world today some people saying that somehow the rise of China is a challenge," the Labor leader told the crowd.
"I invite them to come to Melbourne and see what the Chinese community has contributed to Australia."
Events including drumming, Chinese cultural dance and bamboo flute performances were to take place on Saturday.
In a message read by Victorian Senator Jane Hume, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wished everyone a wonderful Chinese New Year and said the traits usually associated with the rooster sign - confidence, motivation and assertiveness - bode well for the year ahead.
Victoria's Multicultural Affairs Minister Robin Scott also praised Australia and Victoria's strengthening relationship with China and the links between the countries.
"In Victoria we know that multiculturalism and diversity is our greatest strength," he said.
Melbourne's Chinatown is noted for being the oldest in Australia, established when the first Chinese migrants arrived in the 1850s to join other gold prosecutors hoping to strike it lucky.
Lunar New Year celebrations are also being held across Queen Victoria Market, Docklands and along the Yarra River, with a ceremony to close the Chinese New Year Festival at Queensbridge Square on February 12.
