Asian Australians

Asian Australians

Regions with significant populations
Capital cities Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
Languages
commonly Australian English, Asian languages
Religion
Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, East Asian religions, Indian religions, and others

Template:RegionsofAsia-Central.png Asian Australians are people of Asian ancestry who are citizens or permanent residents of Australia.

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 Australian, Southeast Asian e.g. Vietnamese Australian, South Asian e.g. Indian Australian and Central Asian e.g. Afghan Australian.

At the 2011 Census, 1.228 million Australian residents or 6% of the population had been born in Asia. This definition of Asia excludes a further 295,000 Australian residents who were born in India. If counting Australians with at least one parent was born in Asia, then about 10% of Australians could be said to have a strong Asian heritage.

History of immigration

See also: History of Chinese Australians

Gold rush

Main article: Victorian 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.

Immigration restriction

Main article: Immigration Restriction Act 1901

In the 1870s and 1880s, the trade union movement began a series of protests against foreign labour. Their arguments were that Asians and Chinese took jobs away from white men, worked for "substandard" wages, lowered working conditions and refused unionisation. Objections to these arguments came largely from wealthy land owners in rural areas. It was argued that without Asiatics to work in the tropical areas of the Northern Territory and Queensland, the area would have to be abandoned. Despite these objections to restricting immigration, between 1875–1888 all Australian colonies enacted legislation which excluded all further Chinese immigration.

Post-war immigration

Main article: Post-war immigration to Australia

In 1972 Whitlam announced a completely non-discriminatory policy, which effectively put an end to the "White Australia Policy". This announcement occurred in the context of a reduced overall intake. 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.

Demographics

Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese are the most commonly nominated Asian ancestries in Australia. Chinese Australians are 4 percent of the Australian population (2011) and Indian Australians are 2 percent of the Australian population (2011). 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. Second and third generation Chinese and Indian Australians are already present in large numbers. Across Australia's major cities, Asian immigration is least prominent in Perth and Brisbane (top migrant sources being England and New Zealand among other Anglosphere nations), whereas Melbourne and Sydney are far more influenced by Asian immigration. Sydney has the largest number of Asian Australians of any city, and a particularly high concentration of Chinese Australians. Chinese Australians make up Sydney's fourth largest ancestry (after English, Australian and Irish), while the Chinese, Indian and Vietnamese are among Sydney's five largest overseas-born communities.

Metropolitan Areas with High Proportion of Australians of Asian ancestry (2011 Census)

Metropolitan Area	Asian population(Est)	Asian people as % of total population.
Sydney, NSW	832,967	18.97
Melbourne, VIC	618,942	15.47
Canberra, ACT	40,576	11.38
Darwin, NT	12,649	10.49
Perth, WA	176,850	10.23
Brisbane, QLD	172,528	8.35
Adelaide, SA	99,467	8.12

Asian Australians by Greater Sydney region (2011 census)

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)

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

See also

• Asian American
• Asian Canadian
• Asian Brazilian
• British Asian
• French Asian
• Asian people

External links

• Chinese Museum Chinese Immigration to Australia
• Centre for Asian Societies and Histories
• Young Asians making their mark on Australia
• 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art