Tamil Australians
Total population
150,000 (2023)
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
Religion
Related ethnic groups

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 2021 has found 95404 people speaking Tamil at home. The total number of ethnic Tamils could be around 150,000 people well above the census data considering the possibility of refugee statuses being getting considered as Migrants as per the reforms being undertaken to the refugee policies . 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)
TamilEnglishSinhalaNot
stated		OtherTotalTamilEnglishSinhalaNot
stated		OtherTotal
Tamil11,4071,057855814912,756650257161348984
Indian Tamil406504315478211200−132
Sri Lankan Tamil4,15370210227415,0256283608159
Sub-total Tamil15,9661,8091918820518,2597333522213551,175
Indian20,92377,033643,204249,641350,86554031,992382177,24640,033
Sri Lankan8,53423,79227,8624421,55162,18130011,5416794738912,956
Australian7484,777,28368424,942118,2754,921,932822,135,198506,45834,7612,176,549
Sinhalese9422,35116,89811522520,531769011,37213542,416
English8627,062,12080933,676125,9907,223,457713,13681071,82115,079
Malay5026,9731713413,23020,856919,01532563,56812,762
Singaporean1781,93001231,3023,533252,0830134982,619
Not stated856391,451913979,843102,1671,475,23047,98410,434,94145,7101,060,7593,465,64515,055,039
Other6404,164,54975442,9243,202,0087,410,8753133,870,13228117,808300,5574,189,091
Total50,15116,509,29148,1921,085,4913,814,59421,507,71950,15116,509,29148,1921,085,4913,814,59421,507,719

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]

CountryPopulation %
Sri Lanka19,85539.59%
India17,50034.89%
Australia6,54713.05%
Malaysia2,7825.55%
Singapore1,6873.36%
Not stated4450.89%
Other1,3352.66%
Total50,151100.00%

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]NSW1,07310.13%2.14%
Glen Waverley[5]VIC9452.41%1.88%
Dandenong[6]VIC9353.75%1.86%
Westmead[7]NSW9086.41%1.81%
Toongabbie[8]NSW8536.56%1.70%
Pendle Hill[9]NSW84912.74%1.69%
Strathfield[10]NSW8153.45%1.63%
Girraween[11]NSW76016.19%1.52%
Auburn[12]NSW6591.99%1.31%
Lidcombe[13]NSW6583.95%1.31%
Seven Hills[14]NSW6503.45%1.30%
Homebush[15]NSW5889.49%1.17%
Dandenong North[16]VIC5312.42%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

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "2011 Census of Population and Housing". Table Builder. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Census Explorer". Special Broadcasting Service.
  3. ↑ "ஆஸ்திரேலியாவின் எந்த suburb-இல் தமிழர்கள் அதிகமாக வாழ்கின்றனர்? | SBS Your Language". www.sbs.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017.
  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.
  1. ↑ According to the local classification, South Caucasian peoples (Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Georgians) belong not to the European but to the "Central Asian" group, despite the fact that the territory of Transcaucasia has nothing to do with Central Asia and geographically belongs mostly to Western Asia.
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