African Australian
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 380,000 (1.6% of Australian population) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| All capital cities; predominantly Melbourne · Sydney · Perth · Brisbane |
|
| Languages | |
| English, languages of Africa | |
| Religion | |
| predominantly Christianity; minority Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| other African people |
African Australians are Australians of African ancestry. Large-scale immigration from Africa to Australia is only a recent phenomenon, with Europe and Asia traditionally being the largest sources of migration to Australia. In 2005–06, permanent settler arrivals to Australia included 4,000 South Africans and 3,800 Sudanese, constituting the sixth and seventh largest sources of migrants, respectively.
African Australians are of diverse racial, cultural, linguistic, religious, educational and employment backgrounds. The majority (72.6%) of African emigrants to Australia are from southern and eastern Africa. The Australian Bureau of Statistics classifies all residents into cultural and ethnic groups according to geographical origin, including the many Afrikaner migrants from Southern Africa in the Sub-Saharan region.
Africans may have come to Australia as skilled migrants, refugees, through family reunion, or as secondary migrants from other countries.
Coins minted by the Kilwa Sultanate have been found on the Wessel Islands, indicating early barter with Africa-based civilizations. They are among the oldest foreign artifacts ever discovered in Australia. Other people descended from African emigrants later arrived indirectly via the First Fleet and 19th century multicultural maritime industry. Notable examples are Billy Blue, John Caesar, and Black Jack Anderson.
Migrants from Mauritius have also been arriving in Australia since before federation in 1901. They came as convicts, prospectors who sought Victoria's goldfields, or skilled sugar workers who significantly helped to develop Queensland's sugar industry.
The Special Commonwealth African Assistance Plan enabled students from Commonwealth African countries, including from Ghana, to travel to Australia during the mid-1960s. More than 70 percent of those from West African countries remained in Australia following military coup d'états in their countries of birth. Ultimately, however, immigration from Africa to Australia generally remained limited until the 1990s.
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