In the mid-fifties a new wave of Jewish immigrants (mainly from Egypt) arrived in Australia. Most settled in Melbourne, Sydney or Adelaide.

In Melbourne and Sydney they were in sufficient numbers for each community to organise itself. Those settling in Victoria found it difficult to adjust to the minhag of the local synagogues. They had a thirst for Sephardi traditions and a yearning to pass on their cultural individuality to their children through a communal Centre and Synagogue. They wanted their own synagogue with a Sephardi Rabbi.

As a result, sometime in August 1965, 14 members of the Melbourne Sephardi Community of which nine were from Egypt gathered together and formally decided to start their own synagogue.

Those were in fact the founding members of the Sephardi Association of Victoria. The first constitution of the Sephardi Association of Victoria was based on the constitution of the Singapore Synagogue. At a larger meeting held on 1st November, 1965 and attended by fifty people a draft Constitution was submitted and voted upon and the first executive committee was elected.

For the next twelve years the various committees hired halls in which to celebrate the High holidays. Sefarim were obtained from London, Baghdad, Singapore and Canada.

The first Sephardi Synagogue was built in Darling Road, Malvern thanks to the financial assistance of Albert Yehuda. The Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, inaugurated the Synagogue in 1977. From 1977 to 1994, the community Synagogue was run from this small converted house, with regular Shabbat services and High Holy days Services.

By 1990, the location of the Darling Road Synagogue, with all its charm, soon created difficulties in the changing needs of the community. Observant Sephardi congregants needed a place of worship within walking distance from their homes. With little funds the Sephardi Association managed to purchase a new property in Hotham Street, East St. Kilda. The Jewish suburb by excellence with its 15 synagogues and Eruv surrounding them. Once more with the financial assistance of Albert Yehuda a new synagogue named after his father, the late Sassoon Yehuda was built on this site.

The synagogue was designed by prominent Melbourne Jewish Architect, Ben Alexander and officially opened by Ex-governor of Australia Sir Zelman Cowen in November 1994 in the presence of most of the Presidents and Rabbis of Melbourne's synagogues. Rabbi Sabbah officiated and J. Mazza the President of the Sephardi Association of Victoria and the Sassoon Yehuda Sephardi Synagogue thanked everyone for the support given him. In particular he thanked Rabbi Heilbrun and the St. Kilda Hebrew Congregation for giving a home to the Sassoon Yehuda Sephardi Synagogue during the months of construction. The synagogue has become a landmark in the development of the Sephardi Community of Melbourne.

The Synagogue is evocative of similar buildings around the Mediterranean where most of the congregants originated. As in many Moorish buildings it has a "whitewash" finish with many arches and long narrow windows. The Synagogue is built on two levels and incorporates an elevated ladies gallery. It has a boardroom, Library, Rabbi's office, a kitchen, a multi- purpose area for Kiddushim, an upstairs study area, and an area for a large Succah at the rear. The building has a nice set back position from the road and has palm trees at its doorstep.

The community has been able to employ a Sephardi Rabbi, whose mission is to continue the traditions of this unique community and to pass on the Sephardi culture to its children who live in a predominantly Ashkenazi community.

The profile of Melbourne's Sephardi community is as follows:

Algerian, Bukharan, Dutch, Egyptian, English, French, Georgian, Indian, Iraqi, Israeli, Italian, Greek, Latin American, Moroccan, Persian, Singaporean, Syrian, Tunisian, Zimbabwean, etc