Asian Australians
Total population | |
---|---|
At least 2,665,814 (2016) 11.82–16.15% of Australia's population[1][2] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Capital cities of Australia Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide External territories of Australia Christmas Island and Cocos Islands (More than 90%)[upper-alpha 1] | |
Languages | |
Australian English · Asian languages | |
Religion | |
Buddhism · Christianity · Islam · Hinduism · Sikhism · East Asian religions · Indian religions · other religions |
Asian Australians are Australians who trace their ancestry back to Asia.
For the purposes of aggregating data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics in its Australian Standard Classification of Cultural and Ethnic Groups (ASCCEG) has grouped certain ethnic groups into certain categories, including East Asian (e.g. Chinese Australians), Southeast Asian (e.g. Vietnamese Australians) and South and Central Asian (e.g. Indian Australians). Notably, Western Asian ancestries are separately classified by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and 'Middle Eastern and North African' and are not included in statistics for Asian Australians.[6] While for statistical purposes, 'Asian Australian' includes East Asians, Southeast Asians and South and Central Asians, in general Australian English parlance, 'Asian' generally refers to persons of East Asian and Southeast Asian ancestry, with persons of South and Central Asian ancestry generally referred to by their specific national ancestral origin, eg 'Indian' or 'Pakistani'.
Notably, Australia does not collect statistics on the racial origins of its residents, instead collecting data at each five-yearly census on ancestry (ie national ethnic rather than racial origin).[7] At the 2016 census, there were 3,514,915 nominations of ancestries classified by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as falling within the geographical categories of East Asia, Southeast Asia and Central and Southern Asia.[8] This represents 11.82% of the total of 29,613,856 ancestry responses,[9][upper-alpha 2] or 16.15% of persons who nominated their ancestry.[upper-alpha 3] 2,665,814 persons claimed one of the six most commonly nominated Asian ancestries, namely Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean and Sri Lankan, at the 2016 census.[12] Persons claiming one of these six ancestries alone represented 12.25% of the total population who nominated their ancestry.[13][upper-alpha 4]
History of immigration
Gold rush
Early Chinese migration stemmed from the phenomenon of the Victorian gold rush. This was met with some considerable opposition due to existing sinophobia and anti-Chinese sentiment. Racial tensions escalated into several riots at Lambing Flat and Buckland. Later, entry taxes, killings and segregation in the short term and became the foundations of the White Australia policy.[14][15]
Immigration restriction
In the 1870s and 1880s, the trade union movement began a series of protests against foreign labour. The union movement was critical of Asians, mainly Chinese, who did not join unions, and who were prepared to work for lower wages and conditions. [16] Wealthy land owners in rural areas countered with the argument Asians working on lower wages and conditions were necessary for development in tropical Queensland and the Northern Territory.[16] It was claimed that without Asian workers these regions would be abandoned.[17] Under growing pressure from the union movement, each Australian colony enacted legislation between 1875-1888 excluding further Chinese immigration.[17]
Post-war immigration
The government began to expand access to citizenship for non-Europeans in 1957 by allowing access to 15-year residents, and in 1958 by reforming entry permits via the Migration Act 1958. In March 1966, the immigration ministry began a policy of allowing the immigration of skilled and professional non-Europeans, and of expanding the availability of temporary residency to these groups. These cumulatively had the effect of increasing immigration numbers from non-European countries. In 1973 Whitlam took steps to bring about a more non-discriminatory immigration policy—temporarily bringing down overall immigration numbers. The eventual evolution of immigration policy has been along a trajectory of non-discrimination, dismantling European-only policies, and the broadening of pathways to citizenship for Asians.[18] During the Fraser government, with the increasing intake of Vietnamese refugees in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, Australia experienced the largest intake of Asian immigrants since the arrival of the Chinese gold miners during the gold rush of the 1850s and 1860s. In 1983, the level of British immigration was below the level of Asian immigration for the first time in Australian history.[19]
Demographics
Historical population | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Pop. | ±% |
2001 | 982,519 | — |
2006 | 1,696,568 | +72.7% |
2016 | 2,665,814 | +57.1% |
Notably, Australia does not collect statistics on the racial origins of its residents, instead collecting data at each five-yearly census on ancestry (ie national ethnic rather than racial origin).[20] At the 2016 census, there were 3,514,915 nominations of ancestries classified by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as falling within the geographical categories of East Asia, Southeast Asia and Central and Southern Asia.[21] This represents 11.82% of the total of 29,613,856 ancestry responses,[22][upper-alpha 5] or 16.15% of persons who nominated their ancestry.[upper-alpha 6] 2,665,814 persons claimed one of the six most commonly nominated Asian ancestries, namely Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean and Sri Lankan, at the 2016 census.[25] Persons claiming one of these six ancestries alone represented 12.25% of the total population who nominated their ancestry.[26][upper-alpha 7]
Islam is the largest religion from Asia and fastest growing suppressing buddhism and Hinduism Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean and Sri Lankan are the most commonly nominated Asian ancestries in Australia.[27] Chinese Australians constituted 5.6% of the Australian population and Indian Australians constituted 2.8 percent at the 2016 census.[28] 30% of Asians in Australia go to university, 20% of all Australian doctors are Asian, and 37% of Asian Australians take part in some form of organised sport.[29] Second and third generation Chinese and Indian Australians are already present in large numbers.[29] Sydney and Melbourne have made up a large proportion of Asian immigration, with Chinese Australians constituting Sydney's fourth largest ancestry (after English, Australian and Irish). Chinese, Indian and Vietnamese-Australians are among Sydney's five largest overseas-born communities.[30]
Metropolitan area | Asian ancestry responses | Asian ancestry responses (% of total ancestry responses) | Asian ancestry responses (% of population nominating ancestry) |
---|---|---|---|
Sydney | 1,264,242 | 21.2% | 28% |
Melbourne | 1,026,536 | 18.3% | 24.4% |
Brisbane | 294,389 | 9.8% | 13.9% |
Perth | 319,302 | 12.8% | 17.6% |
Adelaide | 169,018 | 10.1% | 13.8% |
Asian Australians by Greater Sydney region (2011 census):[32]
Region | Asian population | Asian people as % of total population |
---|---|---|
Parramatta | 132,663 | 33.61 |
Ryde | 52,975 | 32.53 |
South West | 102,583 | 28.48 |
Inner South West | 137,251 | 26.21 |
Blacktown | 77,866 | 25.65 |
Inner West | 65,922 | 25.01 |
City and Inner South | 55,028 | 20.80 |
North Sydney and Hornsby | 72,786 | 19.43 |
Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury | 37,585 | 17.86 |
Eastern Suburbs | 29,293 | 11.74 |
Outer South West | 23,357 | 9.91 |
Northern Beaches | 14,362 | 6.04 |
Outer West and Blue Mountains | 15,127 | 5.25 |
Sutherland | 9,712 | 4.62 |
Central Coast | 6,459 | 2.07 |
Asian Australians by Melbourne region (2011 census):[32]
Region | Asian population | Asian people as % of total population |
---|---|---|
South East | 169,302 | 25.73 |
Inner East | 74,477 | 21.90 |
West | 126,787 | 20.58 |
Inner Melbourne | 73,188 | 14.58 |
North East | 48,858 | 11.18 |
Outer West | 49,335 | 10.30 |
Inner South | 38,088 | 10.07 |
North West | 38,088 | 9.74 |
Mornington Peninsula | 7,884 | 2.91 |
Notable people
- Ashton Agar
- Mahalia Barnes
- Peter Bell, Australian rules footballer
- Brian Castro, writer
- Kate Ceberano, singer (Filipino father)
- Christabel Chamarette
- Jason Keng-Kwin Chan, actor
- Chen Shaoliang, Australian rules footballer
- Stuart Clark, Australian cricketer
- Anne Curtis, actress and model (Filipino mother)
- Jasmine Curtis, actress and model
- Jason Day, golfer
- David de Kretser, former Governor of Victoria
- Trent Dennis-Lane, Australian rules footballer
- Anh Do, author, actor, and comedian.
- Samantha Downie
- Jamie Durie
- Andrew Embley, Australian rules footballer
- Andrew Everingham
- David Flint
- Jessica Gomes
- Kevin Gordon, rugby league player
- Geoff Huegill
- Nadya Hutagalung
- Dami Im, singer-songwriter
- Samantha Jade
- Michael Johnson, former politician, Member of Parliament, Federal Parliament
- Lin Jong, Australian rules footballer
- Eddie Jones, rugby union player
- Daniel Kerr, Australian rules footballer
- Roger Kerr
- Wally Koochew, Australian rules footballer
- Nick Kyrgios, tennis player (Malaysian mother)
- Dichen Lachman
- Benjamin Law, writer
- Simone Lazaroo, writer
- Michael Letts, rugby player (Filipino mother)
- Adam Liaw, chef; winner of MasterChef Australia 2010
- Jessica Mauboy, singer; actress (Indonesian father)
- Jordan McMahon, Australian rules footballer
- Paul Medhurst, Australian rules footballer
- Bobby Morley, actor from Home and Away TV series (Filipino mother)
- Bill O'Chee, former Senator (Queensland), Federal Parliament
- Clancee Pearce, Australian rules footballer
- Eric Pearce, field hockey player
- Julian Pearce
- Hoa Pham, writer
- Gemma Pranita
- Fred Pringle, Australian rules footballer
- Iain Ramsay
- Jordan Rodrigues, actor and dancer known for Dance Academy
- Van Thanh Rudd
- Guy Sebastian, singer (Malaysian Tamil father)
- Rex Sellers
- Dannie Seow, Australian rules footballer
- Alex Silvagni, Australian rules footballer
- Billy Sing, World War I soldier, Gallipoli and Western Front
- Lisa Singh, Senator (Tasmania)
- Maria Tran, Vietnamese actress, filmmaker
- John Williams, guitarist
- Rhys Williams
- Craig Wing, Australian Rugby League player (South Sydney Rabbitohs) (Filipino mother)
- Penny Wong, senator (South Australia), Federal Parliament, Member of Cabinet, Minister for Climate Change and Water 2007-2010, Minister of Finance and Deregulation 2010-2013
- Vanessa Woods, scientist, author and feature writer for the Discovery Channel
- Deepak Vinayak, Public figure from Melbourne, Australia
- Natalie Tran, video blogger
- Matthew Victor Pastor, writer, film director
Notes
- ↑ The population of Christmas Islanders of full or partial Asian descent consists mainly of Australians of Malaysian descent particularly Malaysian Chinese and Malay descent but also some individuals of Malaysian Indian descent.[3][4] The majority of inhabitants on the Cocos Islands are the Cocos Malays, who are the indigenous people of Cocos Island. There are also minority populations of ethnic Chinese and Indian descent.[5]
- ↑ The figure of 29,613,856 ancestry responses is a figure greater than the total Australian population as each resident can nominate up to two ancestries.[10] Given the more recent immigrant origins of the majority of Asian Australians and the consequent shorter history of intermixing relative to European Australians, who are more likely to nominate more than one ancestry, this represents a smaller share than those residents claiming an Asian ancestry out of the total Australian population as a whole who nominated their ancestry.
- ↑ As up to two ancestries may be nominated for each person, this represents the highest possible proportion of the population accounted for by those nominating an Asian ancestry[11]
- ↑ As such, this represents the lowest possible proportion of the Australian population constituted by persons claiming an Asian ancestry as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- ↑ The figure of 29,613,856 ancestry responses is a figure greater than the total Australian population as each resident can nominate up to two ancestries.[23] Given the more recent immigrant origins of the majority of Asian Australians and the consequent shorter history of intermixing relative to European Australians, who are more likely to nominate more than one ancestry, this represents a smaller share than those residents claiming an Asian ancestry out of the total Australian population as a whole who nominated their ancestry.
- ↑ As up to two ancestries may be nominated for each person, this represents the highest possible proportion of the population accounted for by those nominating an Asian ancestry[24]
- ↑ As such, this represents the lowest possible proportion of the Australian population constituted by persons claiming an Asian ancestry as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
See also
Asians in other countries
Cultural and social perceptions
- Stereotypes of East Asians in the United States (Also applies to East Asians in other parts of the Western world.)
- Stereotypes of South Asians
References
- ↑ http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/communityprofile/036?opendocument
- ↑ https://guest.censusdata.abs.gov.au/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml#
- ↑ "Island induction - Christmas Island District High School".
- ↑ Simone Dennis (2008). Christmas Island: An Anthropological Study. Cambria Press. pp. 91–. ISBN 9781604975109.
- ↑ https://www.cocoskeelingislands.com.au/culture-and-language
- ↑ http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/1249.0
- ↑ http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562bb00121564/f31b4dddfa48a2a8ca257a75002adec8!OpenDocument
- ↑ https://guest.censusdata.abs.gov.au/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml#
- ↑ https://guest.censusdata.abs.gov.au/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml#
- ↑ http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562bb00121564/f31b4dddfa48a2a8ca257a75002adec8!OpenDocument
- ↑ http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562bb00121564/f31b4dddfa48a2a8ca257a75002adec8!OpenDocument
- ↑ http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/communityprofile/036?opendocument
- ↑ http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/communityprofile/036?opendocument
- ↑ O'Brien, Antony (2005), Shenanigans on the Ovens Goldfields, Hartwell: Artillery Publishing, ISBN 0-9758013-0-9
- ↑ Cronin, Katherine (1982), Colonial Casualties: Chinese in Early Victoria, Carlton: Melbourne University Press, ISBN 0-522-84221-6
- 1 2 Markey, Raymond (1 January 1996). "Race and organized labor in Australia, 1850–1901". Highbeam Research. Retrieved 2013-03-25.
- 1 2 Griffiths, Phil (4 July 2002). "Towards White Australia: The shadow of Mill and the spectre of slavery in the 1880s debates on Chinese immigration" (RTF). 11th Biennial National Conference of the Australian Historical Association. Retrieved 2013-03-25.
- ↑ "Fact Sheet - 8. Abolition of the 'White Australia' Policy". Australian Department of Immigration. Archived from the original on 1 September 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
- ↑ Price, CA (September 1998). "POST-WAR IMMIGRATION: 1945-1998". Journal of the Australian Population Association. 15 (2): 17.
- ↑ http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562bb00121564/f31b4dddfa48a2a8ca257a75002adec8!OpenDocument
- ↑ https://guest.censusdata.abs.gov.au/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml#
- ↑ https://guest.censusdata.abs.gov.au/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml#
- ↑ http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562bb00121564/f31b4dddfa48a2a8ca257a75002adec8!OpenDocument
- ↑ http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562bb00121564/f31b4dddfa48a2a8ca257a75002adec8!OpenDocument
- ↑ http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/communityprofile/036?opendocument
- ↑ http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/communityprofile/036?opendocument
- ↑ http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/communityprofile/036?opendocument
- ↑ http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/2071.0~2016~Main%20Features~Cultural%20Diversity%20Article~20?OpenDocument&ref=story
- 1 2
- ↑ "2011 Census QuickStats: Greater Sydney".
- ↑ https://guest.censusdata.abs.gov.au/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml#
- 1 2