Indian Australians

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Indian Australians
Overseas Indian Diaspora, Bangladeshi Australians, Pakistani Australians, Sri Lankan Australians

Indian Australians or Indo-Australians are

Indian diaspora. Indian Australians are one of the largest groups within the Indian diaspora, with 783,958 persons declaring Indian ancestry at the 2021 census, representing 3.1% of the Australian population.[1] In 2019, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated that 721,050 Australian residents were born in India.[3][4]

Indians are the youngest average age (34 years) and the fastest growing community both in terms of absolute numbers and percentages in Australia.[5]

In 2017–18

Indian origin religions, which also include non-Indians, are Buddhist (2.4% of total population or 563,700 people), Hindus (1.9% or 440,300) and Sikhs (0.5% or 125,900).[7]

As of 2016, Indians were the highest educated migrant group in Australia with 54.6% of Indians in Australia having a bachelor's or higher degree, more than three times Australia's national average.[9]

The long history of Indian migration to Australia has progressed "from 18th-century sepoys and lascars (soldiers and sailors) aboard visiting European ships, through 19th-century migrant labourers and the 20th century's hostile policies to the new generation of skilled professional migrants of the 21st century... India became the largest source of skilled migrants in the 21st century."[10]

History

Pre-history migration of Indians (2300 BCE–2000 BCE)

See also: History of Indigenous Australians
An Aboriginal encampment, near the Adelaide foothills

A study of

Indo-Aryans).[citation needed
]

Indian connection with European exploration of Australia (1627–1787)

See also: European exploration of Australia

Most early explorations of Australia by various European colonial powers had an Indian connection. Indians had been employed for a long time on the European ships trading in

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies Pieter de Carpentier to explore the northern coast. These ships made extensive examinations, particularly in the Gulf of Carpentaria, named in honour of de Carpentier.[20]

Captain J.J.G. Bremer, RN, was commissioned to form a settlement between Bathurst Island and the Cobourg Peninsula.[24]

Colonial era (1788–1900)

See also: History of Australia (1788–1850), History of Australia (1851–1900), Convicts in Australia, List of convicts on the First Fleet, and Journals of the First Fleet
'Podgy', a Sikh hawker in Goulburn Valley, Victoria

Indian immigration from

British settlers who had been living in India.[25]

The people of the first British fleet to establish a new colony, which landed on 26 January 1788, included seamen, marines and their families, government officials, and a large number of convicts, including women and children. All had been tried and convicted in Great Britain and almost all of them in England. However, many are known to have come to England from other parts of Great Britain and, especially, from Ireland; at least 12 were identified as black (born in India, Britain, Africa, the West Indies, North America, or a European country or its colony).[26]: 421–4 

British Indian Empire under the British East India Company, the company had exclusive right on control of all trade to and from the penal colony.[31][32]
These colonies multiplied and expanded to include whole Australia, various Islands in Oceania, initially colonies were established under the British Indian Empire including New Zealand which was administered as part of New South Wales until 1841.

Between 1788 and 1868 on board 806 ships in all about 164,000 convicts were transported to the Australian colonies,

Madras and Bengal in 1818.[36]

In the late 1830s, more Indians started to arrive in Australia as

better source needed
]

From the 1860s, Indians, most of them

Sikh, worked as merchants, industrialists, and businessmen to operate throughout outback Australia, as 'pioneers of the inland'.[40] The 1881 census records 998 people who were born in India but this had grown to over 1700 by 1891.[25]

Between 1860s to 1900 period when small groups of

automobile.[41]

Since Federation (1901–present)

During the White Australia policy (1901–1973)

See also:
History of Australia since 1945

From federation in 1901 until the 1973 immigration of non-Europeans, including Indians, into Australia was restricted due to the enactment of the

White Australia Policy aimed to restrict immigration from Asia, where the population was vastly greater and the standard of living vastly lower and was similar to measures taken in other settler societies such as the United States, Canada and New Zealand.[46] While Labor Party wanted to protect "white" jobs and pushed for clearer restrictions, Free Trade Party's MP Bruce Smith said he had "no desire to see low-class Indians, Chinamen or Japanese...swarming into this country... But there is obligation...not (to) unnecessarily offend the educated classes of those nations".[47]

RAAF
Personnel with an Indian Sikh man during WWII.

During

Gallipoli Campaign the Australians and New Zealanders troops were deployed to take part in the operation, although they were outnumbered by the British, Indian and French contingents, a fact which is often overlooked today by many Australians and New Zealanders.[51] Australian nurses also staffed 10 British colonial hospitals in India.[48]

During

Eastern Fleet where they were normally used to protect convoys in the Indian Ocean from attacks by Japanese and German submarines.[54]

Since the end of the White Australia policy (1973–present)

See also: Impact of end of White Australia policy
The number of permanent settlers arriving in Australia from India since 1991 (monthly)

The end of White Australia policy saw a boom in migration of middle-class skilled professionals, by 2016 over 2 in every 3 migrants who arrived were skilled professionals mainly from India, UK, China, South Africa and Philippines, "to work as doctors and nurses, human-resources and marketing professionals, business managers, IT specialists, and engineers...who were not fleeing war or poverty. The Indians in Australia are predominantly male, while the Chinese are majority female." Indians are the largest migrant ethnic group in Melbourne and Adelaide, fourth largest in Brisbane, and likely to jump from third place to second place in Sydney by 2021. In Melbourne, the suburbs of Docklands, Footscray, Sunshine, Truganina, Tarneit and Pakenham have higher concentration of Indians specially the students. In Sydney, Parramatta [and neighbouring suburbs such as Harris Park and Westmead, etc.] have higher concentration of migrants.[55] By 2019, the number of Indians grew at nine times the annual national average growth, and number of overseas student visas and post-study work visas also exploded.[56]

Between 2007 and 2010, the

denialist.[60] On 9 June 2009, Indian Prime Minister, addressing the Indian Parliament said that "he was 'appalled' by the senseless violence and crime, some of which are racist in nature,"[61] Indian students held protests in Melbourne and Sydney,[62][63] which were sparked by an earlier attack on Indians by Lebanese Australian men.[64]

Demographics

See also:
Demography of Australia
People with Indian ancestry as a percentage of the population in Sydney divided geographically by postal area, as of the 2011 census

783,958 persons declared Indian ancestry (whether alone or in combination with another ancestry) at the 2021 census, representing 3.1% of the Australian population.[1]
In 2019, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated that 721,050 Australian residents were born in India.[3][65]

At the 2021 census the states with the largest number of people nominating Indian ancestry were: New South Wales (350,770), Victoria (250,103), Queensland (93,648), Western Australia (77,357) and South Australia (43,598).[66]

In 2009 there were an additional 90,000 Indian students studying at Australian tertiary institutions according to Prime Minister Rudd.[67]

Historical population trends

This table only reflects the people who were born in India, and not all the people who have the Indian ancestry such as the second generation Indian Australians or the first generation Indian Australians from Indian diaspora nations e.g. Fiji, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Suriname, Guyana, etc. Prior to 1947 India's Independence and simultaneous partition, the

Bangladeshi Australian
as nations did not exist as these were part of British India, hence these are also included in the demography of Australian Indians till 1947.

Year Born in India All overseas born Notes
Number % of Indians among overseas born Number % of all overseas born in total population of Australia and comments
26 January 1788[26][27][28][29] 12* People of the first British fleet included 12 non-European people including some Indians.
1881[25] 998
1891[25] 1700
1901[42] 4700 to 7600 Introduction of White Australia policy led to reduction of Indians.
1911[43] 3698
1921[43] 2200
Before 1941[68] 170 0.1 16,681 0.3
1941–1950[68] 2,027 0.7 106,647 2.0
1951–1960[68] 1,697 0.6 375,076 7.1
1961–1970[68] 10,319 3.5 642,355 12.1 End of the White Australia policy in 1973.
1971–1980[68] 11,595 3.9 571,828 10.8
1981–1990[68] 17,659 6.0 782,926 14.8
1991–2000[68] 36,765 12.4 786,777 14.9
2001–2005[68] 48,949 16.6 581,597 11.0
2006–2011[68] 159,326 (390,894) 52.9 1,190,322 22.5 390,894 are ethnic Indian and among them 295,362 were born in India.
2011–2016[3][5][69] 592,000 (619,164) 619,164 (2.8% of Australian population) are ethnic Indian and among them 592,000 (2.4% of Australian population) were born in India.
2016–2021
2022–2027

Indian languages

See also: Languages of Australia and Languages of India
Languages spoken by Indian Australians at home as of 2011

Konkani (2,416), Sindhi (1,592), Kashmiri (215), and Odia (721).[6] Number of Hindi speakers by state in 2018, were NSW (67,034), Victoria (51,241), Queensland (18,163), Western Australia (10,747), South Australia (7,310), ACT (3,646), NT (852), and Tasmania (639).[7] 81% of Punjabi speakers are Sikhs, 13.3% are Hindus and 1.4% are Muslims.[70]

Religion

See also: Indian-origin religions in Australia, Hinduism in Australia, and Sikhism in Australia
Religion amongst Indian Australians (2021)[71]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
 
 45.0%
Sikhism
 
 20.8%
Catholicism
 
 10.3%
Other religion
 
 9.9%
No Religion
 
 7.4%
Islam
 
 6.6%

With 92.6% of Indian Australians being religious, Indian Australians are a much more religious group than Australia as a whole (Australia being 46.1% irreligious),[72][73] but less religious than India itself which is 99.7% religious.[74] While India is 79.8% Hindu, 14.2% Muslim, 2.3% Christian, and 1.7% Sikh, Indian Australians are 45.0% Hindu, 20.8% Sikh, 10.3% Catholic, and 6.6% Muslim, with a significant over-representation of Sikhs and Christians and an under-representation of Hindus and Muslims.

Socio-economic status

In 2016, it was revealed 54.6% of Indian migrants in Australia hold a bachelor's degree or a higher educational degree, more than three times Australia's national average of 17.2% in 2011, making them the most educated demographic group in Australia.[9]

India annually contributes the largest number of migrants to both Australia and New Zealand. According to census figures from 2016, among India-born residents in Australia, the median income was $785, higher than the corresponding figure for all overseas-born residents at $615, and all Australia-born residents at $688.[75]

In popular media

"Indians and the Antipodes: Networks, Boundaries and Circulation" 2018 book edited by Sekhar Bandyopadhyay and Jane Buckingham "is the first book that seeks to juxtapose histories of Indian migration to Australia and New Zealand in a comparative framework to show their interconnectedness as well as dissimilarities. Side by side with stories of collective suffering and struggles of the diaspora, it focuses on individual resilience, enterprise and social mobility. It analyses 'White Australia' and 'White New Zealand' policies of the early twentieth century to point to their interconnected histories. It also looks critically at the more recent migration, its changing nature and the challenges it poses to both the migrant communities and the host societies."[76]

Notable Indian Australians

Indian ancestry

European–Indian ancestry

See also

References

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External links

  1. ^ According to the local classification, South Caucasian peoples (Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Georgians) belong not to the European but to the "Central Asian" group, despite the fact that the territory of Transcaucasia has nothing to do with Central Asia and geographically belongs mostly to Western Asia.
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