Tamil Australians

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Tamil Australians
Total population
~73161 (2016)
Regions with significant populations
State / Territory
 New South Wales21,527
 Victoria17,452
 Western Australia4,078
 Queensland3,475
 South Australia1,703
 Australian Capital Territory1,416
 Northern Territory280
 Tasmania216
Languages
  • Tamil
  • English
Religion
  • Hinduism
  • Christianity
  • Islam
  • Jainism
Related ethnic groups
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Tamil Australians refers to Australians with a Tamil background. It includes people who speak Tamil, those whose ancestors were Tamil or those who identify with Tamil culture. Most Tamil Australians are of Indian, Sri Lankan, Singaporean or Malaysian descent.[1]

Demographics[]

Murugan Temple, Sydney
Saivaite Temple, Perth

The Census 2016 has found 73161 people speaking Tamil at home. Out of this 28,055 people are born in India and 27,352 people are born in Sri Lanka. Australian born Tamil speakers are counted as 9,979. The total number of ethnic Tamils are around 150,000 people. This is the first time Indian Tamils have taken over as the majority over the Sri Lankan Tamils in a foreign country other than the United States. There are no exact figures for the number of Tamil Australians but according to the 2011 census there were 50,151 Australians, 0.23% of the population, who spoke Tamil at home.[2] Tamil speaking Australians are of Indian, Sri Lankan, Singaporean and Malaysian ancestry.[1] The Census 2016 shows an increase of 50% in Tamil population who speak Tamil at home. There were 73161 Tamil speakers according to the 2016 Census, with the largest proportion of people across Australia in the suburb of Westmead (1,425 people, or 3.6% of people in that suburb), followed by Toongabbie (NSW) (1,404 people, or 3.5% of people in that suburb).[3]

Analysis of 2011 census by language and ancestry highlighting Tamil characteristics[1]
Ancestry Language (first ancestry) Language (second ancestry)
Tamil English Sinhala Not
stated		 Other Total Tamil English Sinhala Not
stated		 Other Total
Tamil 11,407 1,057 85 58 149 12,756 650 257 16 13 48 984
Indian Tamil 406 50 4 3 15 478 21 12 0 0 −1 32
Sri Lankan Tamil 4,153 702 102 27 41 5,025 62 83 6 0 8 159
Sub-total Tamil 15,966 1,809 191 88 205 18,259 733 352 22 13 55 1,175
Indian 20,923 77,033 64 3,204 249,641 350,865 540 31,992 38 217 7,246 40,033
Sri Lankan 8,534 23,792 27,862 442 1,551 62,181 300 11,541 679 47 389 12,956
Australian 748 4,777,283 684 24,942 118,275 4,921,932 82 2,135,198 50 6,458 34,761 2,176,549
Sinhalese 942 2,351 16,898 115 225 20,531 76 901 1,372 13 54 2,416
English 862 7,062,120 809 33,676 125,990 7,223,457 7 13,136 8 107 1,821 15,079
Malay 502 6,973 17 134 13,230 20,856 91 9,015 32 56 3,568 12,762
Singaporean 178 1,930 0 123 1,302 3,533 25 2,083 0 13 498 2,619
Not stated 856 391,451 913 979,843 102,167 1,475,230 47,984 10,434,941 45,710 1,060,759 3,465,645 15,055,039
Other 640 4,164,549 754 42,924 3,202,008 7,410,875 313 3,870,132 281 17,808 300,557 4,189,091
Total 50,151 16,509,291 48,192 1,085,491 3,814,594 21,507,719 50,151 16,509,291 48,192 1,085,491 3,814,594 21,507,719

As per the 2011 census, over 39.59% of Tamil speaking Australians were born in Sri Lanka, 34.89% in India and 13.05% in Australia.[1]

Country Population %
Sri Lanka 19,855 39.59%
India 17,500 34.89%
Australia 6,547 13.05%
Malaysia 2,782 5.55%
Singapore 1,687 3.36%
Not stated 445 0.89%
Other 1,335 2.66%
Total 50,151 100.00%

They live concentrated in Wentworthville, Pendle Hill, Girraween, Toongabbie and Strathfield in Sydney and in Glen Waverley and Dandenong North in Melbourne.[2]

State
suburb 		State Tamils % of
suburb 		% of
Tamils
Wentworthville[4] NSW 1,073 10.13% 2.14%
Glen Waverley[5] VIC 945 2.41% 1.88%
Dandenong[6] VIC 935 3.75% 1.86%
Westmead[7] NSW 908 6.41% 1.81%
Toongabbie[8] NSW 853 6.56% 1.70%
Pendle Hill[9] NSW 849 12.74% 1.69%
Strathfield[10] NSW 815 3.45% 1.63%
Girraween[11] NSW 760 16.19% 1.52%
Auburn[12] NSW 659 1.99% 1.31%
Lidcombe[13] NSW 658 3.95% 1.31%
Seven Hills[14] NSW 650 3.45% 1.30%
Homebush[15] NSW 588 9.49% 1.17%
Dandenong North[16] VIC 531 2.42% 1.06%

More than 80% have completed high school education; the rate is only 50% for the general Australian population.[2] More than 59% own their houses, compared with more than 67% of the general population.[2]

Tamil Australians[]

  • Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer, emeritus professor
  • Geraldine Viswanathan, actress
  • Nazeem Hussain, comedian
  • Clarence Jey, record producer
  • Suresh Joachim, multiple Guinness World Record holder
  • Kamahl, singer
  • Kumar Mahadevan, Michelin star chef
  • , Olympic Torch Bearer 2000 Olympics
  • Duvashen Padayachee, race driver
  • Guy Sebastian, singer and winner of the first season of Australian Idol; of partial Malaysian Tamil descent
  • Prashanth Sellathurai, gymnast
  • Maha Sinnathamby, entrepreneur[17]
  • Renuga Veeran, badminton player
  • Jonathan Sri - Councillor for The Gabba Ward in the Brisbane City Council
  • Ecca Vandal, Singer-songwriter
  • Vimala Raman, actress

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "2011 Census of Population and Housing". Table Builder. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  2. ^ a b c d "Census Explorer". Special Broadcasting Service.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ "Wentworthville Code SSC12459 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  5. ^ "Glen Waverley Code SSC20535 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  6. ^ "Dandenong Code SSC20366 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  7. ^ "Westmead Code SSC12484 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  8. ^ "Toongabbie (NSW) Code SSC12293 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  9. ^ "Pendle Hill Code SSC11859 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  10. ^ "Strathfield (NSW) Code SSC12164 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  11. ^ "Girraween (NSW) Code SSC10950 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  12. ^ "Auburn (NSW) Code SSC10070 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  13. ^ "Lidcombe Code SSC11363 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  14. ^ "Seven Hills (NSW) Code SSC12064 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  15. ^ "Homebush (NSW) Code SSC11125 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  16. ^ "Dandenong North Code SSC20367 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  17. ^ "Maha Sinnathamby - Greater Springfield". Greater Springfield. Retrieved 16 April 2018.

External links[]

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