Cr Nora Lamont said Sudanese families were having to move further away from Maroondah, where she said they had created a community for themselves.

"We don't want them to be dislodged from each other.

"As a council we can try and help as best we can, but the Federal Government needs to provide funding for refugees that come in and the State Government can also help with affordable housing."

Reverend David Gai Manyok, a Sudanese Anglican minister and chairman of the Maroondah Southern Sudanese Christian Welfare Association, came to Australia in 2005 and now works with a small congregation of Dinka-speaking Sudanese at St John's Anglican Church in Croydon.

He said families were being "forced" out of Maroondah because of increasing rental costs.

"Its schools are very good for our kids, transport is easy for those who have no cars, places for culture are available in Maroondah, so we recognised Maroondah to be the best place for us to live.

"But we are forced to go out due to the high cost of renting."

Reverend Manyok rented a home in Ringwood East with his wife and five children for about four years before moving to a crisis accommodation house in Croydon.

He said he, too, had had to move out of the municipality.

"I'm moving to Nunawading where I can only stay for three months. They tell me I have to keep looking."

State Government spokesman Chris Owner said the Government provided accommodation based on needs rather than ethnic background.

"The Government also provides a range of different public housing alternatives that cater for singles to large families and are found right across the state."