Australian Sikhs number over 210,000 people and account for 0.8% of Australia's population as of 2021, forming the country's fastest-growing and fifth-largest religious group. The largest Sikh populations in Australia are found in Victoria, followed by New South Wales and Queensland.
History
Pre-Federation: 1830s–1901
Early migrants: indentured labourers and cameleers It is difficult to separate the history of early Sikh arrival to Australia from that of the numerous other religious faiths that were represented the people of British India and more specifically the Punjab province. It appears that the first Sikhs arrived in the country somewhere in the late 1830s, when the penal transport of convicts to New South Wales (which at the time also consisted of Queensland and Victoria) was slowing, before being abolished altogether in 1840. The lack of manual labourers from the convict assignment system led to an increase demand for foreign labour, which was partly filled by the arrival of Sikhs. The Sikhs came from an agrarian background in India, and thus fulfilled their tasks as farm labourers on cane fields and shepherds on sheep stations well.
A record from 1836 records a man with the surname of McCoy recruiting 50 Sikh workers for his sugar plantation in Australia, with the group stopping in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta) en-route to their destination.
"Initially, the migrants from India were indentured labourers, who worked on sheep stations and farms around Australia. Some adventurers followed during the gold rush of the 1850s. A census from 1861 indicates that there were around 200 Indians in Victoria of whom 20 were in Ballarat, the town which was at the epicenter of the gold rush. Thereafter, many more came and worked as hawkers - going from house to house, town to town, traversing thousands of kilometers, making a living by selling a variety of products." From the 1860s onwards, cameleers, commonly called 'Ghans' were brought to Australia to help explore and settle Australia's vast arid interior. While the Ghans consisted mainly of Muslims largely from British India and some even from Afghanistan and Egypt, a sizeable minority were Sikhs from Punjab. The Ghans set up camel-breeding stations and rest house outposts, known as caravanserai, throughout inland Australia, creating a permanent link between the coastal cities and the remote cattle and sheep grazing stations until about the 1930s, when they were largely replaced by the automobile.
Entrepreneurial migrants: travelling rural hawkers
Towards the end of the 19th century, Indian hawkers, many of whom were Sikh, became a common sight in the country regions throughout the country. Peddling was a common occupation in rural India and was readily transplanted to rural Australia, due to its widely dispersed population. Hawking required little capital to begin, with young men travelling on foot until they had enough money to purchase a horse and cart. The hawking system was based on credit, with warehouses selling goods to Indian wholesalers on credit, who provided the hawkers their stock on credit, who in turn sold their goods to the farmers and farmhands on credit. Credit was vital as money was often only available after the harvesting of the crops. The hawkers sold a wide variety of goods from work wear and farming goods for the men of the household, to fashionable clothing, trinkets and sewing needles for the wives and daughters. All hawkers required licenses issued by the state and from the 1890s licenses started to become restricted to British subjects. This denied Afghans, Assyrians and Chinese from renewing their license, giving the Sikhs a monopoly on hawking which they held until the 1930s when new European migrants began to ply the trade. While the hawkers were usually well received by the people of the country, with many stories of the hawkers cooking curries with the wives and playing cricket with the men, their success worried some politicians. Sikh hawkers sent some of their profits back to their families in the villages of Punjab and invested the rest by building stores and buying land, especially in northern New South Wales, where their continued acquisition caused the minister for of lands, Niel Nielson, to speak out. Two of the most successful Sikh hawkers were Baba Ram Singh and Otim (Uttam) Singh who arrived in 1890 learnt the trade and prospered and in 1907 they established "The People Stores". Baba Ram Singh lived to be 106 and is thought to have brought the first Guru Granth Sahib to Australia in the early 1920s, while in his lifetime Otim Singh acquired £10,000 and developed a thriving business on Kangaroo Island. As their families were not allowed to join these early pioneers many travelled back and forth finally returning to their original homeland to retire.
However, a large number remained in Australia. Their descendants are now 6th generation immigrants, although it is unknown if they retain their ancestors’ faith.
1885 - Surjan Singh Johal (Jandiala, Jalandhar) 1885 - Mahan Singh Grewal (Dhaliwal, Jalandhar) 1889 - Baba Ram Singh Rai (Bhulla Rai, Jalandhar) 1890 - Oudham Singh Arkan (Malpur Arkan, Nawanshahr) 1890 - Gurbachan Singh Sanghera (Bilga, Jalandhar) 1890 - Gharne (Gian) Singh Malhi (Chugha Kalan, Moga) 1893 - Mangal Singh Bains (Bilga, Jalandhar) 1893 - Prem Singh Majhel (Aujla) (Bhalojala, Amritsar) 1894 - Khem Singh Bhatti (Sahlon, Nawanshahr) 1895 - Beer Singh Johal (Jandiala, Jalandhar) 1895 - Partap Singh Johal (Jandiala, Jalandhar) 1895 - Bella Singh Bhangal (Amargarh, Nawanshahr) 1895 - Inder Singh Arkan (Malpur Arkan, Nawanshahr) 1896 - Jualla (Jolla) Singh Sohal (Atta, Jalandhar) 1896 - Sham Singh Pangly (Jagatpur Jattan (Sran), Jalandhar) 1896 - Santa Singh Atwal (Bara Pind, Jalandhar) 1897 - Jawala Singh Lalli (Lallian, Hoshiarpur) 1897 - Inder Singh Bagri (Chak Kalan, Jalandhar) 1898 - Narain Singh Hayer (Heran, Jalandhar) 1898 - Basanta Singh Sanghera (Bilga, Jalandhar) 1898 - Waryam Singh Sidhu (Mansurpur, Jalandhar) 1898 - Kishan Singh Chohan (Nagar (Phillaur), Jalandhar) 1898 - Indar Singh Sondhu (Jalandhar) 1899 - Genda Singh Atwal (Rasulpur, Nawanshahr) 1899 - Karam Singh (Boparai Kalan, Jalandhar) 1899 - Jowahar Singh (Pabwan, Jalandhar) 1899 - Eshar (Esau) Singh Sanghera (Bilga, Jalandhar) 1899 - Ram Singh Sangha (Kala Sanghian, Kapurthala) 1900 - Sarna Singh Dhesi (Sang Dhesian, Jalandhar) 1900 - Joallah Singh Dhadwal (Muthada Kalan, Jalandhar) 1900 - Gunda Singh Bains (Bains, Jalandhar) 1901 - Pal Singh Pooni (Muthada Kalan, Jalandhar) 1901 - Basawa Singh Bassi (Bundala, Jalandhar) 1901 - Thakur Singh More (Sadhpur, Nawanshahr) 1901 - Inder Singh Dhadlie (Golewal, Nawanshahr) 1901 - Inder Singh Thandi (Thandian, Nawanshahr) 1902 - Moti Singh Benning (Kishanpura, Nawanshahr) 1902 - Munsha Singh Toor (Dhaliwal, Jalandhar) 1910 - Brahm Singh Samrai (Samrai, Jalandhar) 1880~1901 - Sewa Singh Dhesi (Kahna Dhesian, Jalandhar) 1880~1901 - Arjan Singh Sandhar (Nawan Pind, Jalandhar) 1880~1901 - Bhulla Singh Sodhi (Mehmoodpur, Nawanshahr) 1880~1901 - Ganga Singh Gosal (Ratainda, Nawanshahr) 1880~1901 - Lachman Singh Sanghera (Bilga, Jalandhar) 1880~1901 - Karam Chand (Bilga, Jalandhar) 1880~1901 - Gurdit Singh (Bara Pind, Jalandhar) 1880~1901 - Jewan Singh (Chak, Jalandhar) 1880~1901 - Dalip Singh (Dhuleta, Jalandhar) 1880~1901 - Ram Singh (Bilga, Jalandhar) 1880~1901 - Booja Singh (Chak, Jalandhar) 1880~1901 - Nanak Chand (Bilga, Jalandhar) 1880~1901 - Bishan Das (Dhaliwal, Jalandhar)
CEDT - Certificate of Exemption from the Dictation Test
Many of the early Sikh pioneers obtained Certificates exempting them from a dictation test that non-whites had to undergo if they wanted to enter Australia after 1901. However, it is not known how the Sikhs that entered for the first time after 1901 continued to or were permitted to reside and work in Australia.
The Dictation Test was a written test in any European language chosen at random by the Migration Officers. It was primarily designed to keep non-white people from entering Australia. However, any Indian or other non-white person who was resident in Australia before 1900 could, if they chose to leave Australia, leave after applying for the CEDT, which would ensure that they could return to Australia at a time of their choosing and not undergo a Dictation Test.
Many people of all nationalities left Australia and later re-entered Australia with little difficulty.
During the White Australia Policy: 1901–1973 From federation in 1901 until 1973, immigration of non-whites, including Sikhs, into Australia was restricted due to the enactment of the White Australia policy. The laws made it impossible for Sikhs to enter the country unless they were merchants or students, who themselves were only allowed in for short periods of time; it also made it impossible for Sikhs who already lived in the country from returning to the motherland, as they would be barred re-entry. Historians place the number of Indians in Australia at federation in 1901 somewhere between 4700 and 7600. According to the 1911 census, there was only 3698 'Indians' (mostly Sikh) signifying a large decrease, with the trend continuing, with only approximately 2200 'Indians' in the country in 1921.
Open discrimination of non-whites before the passing of the laws was also widespread. After the conclusion of World War I, however, the stance of Australia on Sikhs shifted. Sikhs were classified as a martial race by the officials of the British Empire, who believed they were brave, loyal and well-built for fighting. As such they were preferentially recruited to the British armed forces as part of the Sikh Regiment, which quickly became the most decorated regiment in the Empire. They fought side by side with the ANZAC battalions in the battle of Gallipoli and earned the respect of many Australians. This combined the need to strengthen links to counter the growing threat of an expansionist and industrialised Japan saw Indians of Australia given rights far greater than that of other Asian groups through a series of steps between 1925 and 1929, Indians in Australia were allowed limited property rights, were given the right to vote and allowed a pension.
The Sikhs began to use their new-found rights in the 1930s when the early pioneers begun to bring their 'sons of working age' to Australia. Initially they had a strong presence in the Atherton Tableland region of Queensland and the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, especially Maclean, Harwood and Clarence, where they worked as manual labourers, mainly working on the sugar cane fields, but also finding work in other industries such as the construction of railways. During World War II, Australia suffered from a dearth of labourers as the White population was recruited into the army and sent overseas, where they fought side by side with the Sikhs in the Battle of Malaya, Battle of Singapore and numerous other hostilities. This allowed Indians to work in many agricultural sectors which they had previously been barred from working in due to protests by agricultural unions. One of the opened industries was the banana industry, leading to the Sikhs in Australia migrating to the banana growing areas of Woolgoolga to fill the shortage, forming a Sikh community that still exists to this day.