Indian Australians
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Indian Australians 432,700+ (by birth)500,000+ (by ancestry) 2.13% of the Australian population (2015) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Victoria | 111,787 |
| New South Wales | 95,387 |
| Queensland | 30,259 |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
Indian Australians are Australians of Indian descent or heritage. This includes both those who are Australian by birth, and those born in India or elsewhere in the Indian diaspora. They are one of the fastest growing communities in Australia today.
In 2005-2006 India was the fourth major source of permanent migrants to Australia behind the United Kingdom, New Zealand and China. Between 2000–2001 and 2005–2006, the number of migrants who came to Australia from India increased from 4,700 to 12,300 people. In 2011-12, Indians became the largest source of permanent migration to Australia forming 15.7% of the total migration programme. Australia's Indian-born population also recorded the fastest growth in the country in 2008-2009, increasing by 44,012 (17%).
The largest Indian Australian population is found in the state of Victoria.
A study of DNA has found that Indian people may have come to Australia around 4000 years ago. Indian immigration to Australia began early in colonial history. The first Indians arrived in Australia with the British settlers who had been living in India. From the 1860s, Indians, most of them Sikh, worked as merchants, industrialists, and businessmen to operate throughout outback Australia, as 'pioneers of the inland'. The 1881 census records 998 people who were born in India but this had grown to over 1700 by 1891.
Migration from India was curtailed after the Australian Government introduced the Immigration Restriction Act 1901, but following India's independence from Britain in 1947, the number and Indian-born British citizens emigrating to Australia increased.
During the 2006 Census, 147,106 Australian residents declared that they were born in India, of which 79,025 held Australian citizenship. The states with the largest Indian-born residents were New South Wales (57,156), Victoria (52,853) and Western Australia (15,157). 64,968 declared they were Hindu and 26,500 declared they were Sikh. Other minorities include Muslims and Christians. 243,722 Australian residents declared that had complete Indian ancestry, which is almost 100% of the entire Indian community in Australia.
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