Tamil Australians
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]
Total population | |
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~73161 (2016) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
State / Territory | |
21,527 | |
17,452 | |
4,078 | |
3,475 | |
1,703 | |
1,416 | |
280 | |
216 | |
Languages | |
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Religion | |
Related ethnic groups | |
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Tamils |
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People
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Tamil Australians, French Tamils, British Tamils, Tamil Italians, Tamil Indonesians, Tamil Canadians, Tamil Americans, Tamil South Africans, Myanmar Tamils, Tamil Mauritians, Tamil Germans, Tamil Pakistanis, Tamil Seychellois, Tamil New Zealanders, Swiss Tamils, Dutch Tamils |
Politics
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Demographics
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]
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
- Jega Nadarajah, 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
- Dr Rama Jayaraj, Clinical Sciences Academic and Cancer Researcher, Darwin
- Jonathan Sri - Councillor for The Gabba Ward in the Brisbane City Council
References
- "2011 Census of Population and Housing". Table Builder. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Census Explorer". Special Broadcasting Service.
- http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/tamil/ta/article/2017/07/15/aastireeliyaavinnn-ent-suburb-il-tmilllrkll-atikmaak-vaalllkinnnrrnnnr?language=ta
- "Wentworthville Code SSC12459 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Glen Waverley Code SSC20535 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Dandenong Code SSC20366 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Westmead Code SSC12484 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Toongabbie (NSW) Code SSC12293 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Pendle Hill Code SSC11859 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Strathfield (NSW) Code SSC12164 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Girraween (NSW) Code SSC10950 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Auburn (NSW) Code SSC10070 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Lidcombe Code SSC11363 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Seven Hills (NSW) Code SSC12064 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Homebush (NSW) Code SSC11125 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Dandenong North Code SSC20367 (SSC)". Quick Stats. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- "Maha Sinnathamby - Greater Springfield". Greater Springfield. Retrieved 16 April 2018.