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.

Demographics

The Census 2021 has found 95,404 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 refugee policy reform. 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. Tamil speaking Australians are of Indian, Sri Lankan, Singaporean and Malaysian ancestry. The Census 2016 shows an increase of 50% in Tamil population who speak Tamil at home.

There were 73,161 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).

+ Analysis of 2011 census by language and ancestry highlighting Tamil characteristicsAncestryLanguage (first ancestry)Language (second ancestry)Tamil English Sinhala Notstated Other Total Tamil English Sinhala Notstated Other TotalTamil 11,407 1,057 85 58 149 12,756 650 257 16 13 48 984Indian Tamil 406 50 4 3 15 478 21 12 0 0 −1 32Sri Lankan Tamil 4,153 702 102 27 41 5,025 62 83 6 0 8 159Sub-total Tamil 15,966 1,809 191 88 205 18,259 733 352 22 13 55 1,175Indian 20,923 77,033 64 3,204 249,641 350,865 540 31,992 38 217 7,246 40,033Sri Lankan 8,534 23,792 27,862 442 1,551 62,181 300 11,541 679 47 389 12,956Australian 748 4,777,283 684 24,942 118,275 4,921,932 82 2,135,198 50 6,458 34,761 2,176,549Sinhalese 942 2,351 16,898 115 225 20,531 76 901 1,372 13 54 2,416English 862 7,062,120 809 33,676 125,990 7,223,457 7 13,136 8 107 1,821 15,079Malay 502 6,973 17 134 13,230 20,856 91 9,015 32 56 3,568 12,762Singaporean 178 1,930 0 123 1,302 3,533 25 2,083 0 13 498 2,619Not 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 15,055,039Other 640 4,164,549 754 42,924 3,202,008 7,410,875 313 3,870,132 281 17,808 300,557 4,189,091Total 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.

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.

Statesuburb StateTamils% ofsuburb% ofTamilsWentworthville NSW 1,073 10.13% 2.14%Glen Waverley VIC 945 2.41% 1.88%Dandenong VIC 935 3.75% 1.86%Westmead NSW 908 6.41% 1.81%Toongabbie NSW 853 6.56% 1.70%Pendle Hill NSW 849 12.74% 1.69%Strathfield NSW 815 3.45% 1.63%Girraween NSW 1290 20.6% 1.52%Auburn NSW 659 1.99% 1.31%Lidcombe NSW 658 3.95% 1.31%Seven Hills NSW 650 3.45% 1.30%Homebush NSW 588 9.49% 1.17%Dandenong North VIC 531 2.42% 1.06%

More than 80% have completed high school education; the rate is only 50% for the general Australian population. More than 59% own their houses, compared with more than 67% of the general population.

Tamil Australians Kandasamy Nallasivam, teacher and founder of Perth North Tamil School Nishan Velupillay, footballer 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 Samantha Ratnam, Politician, social worker, current leader of the Victorian Greens Duvashen Padayachee, race car driver Guy Sebastian, singer and winner of the first season of Australian Idol; of partial Malaysian Tamil descent Prashanth Sellathurai, gymnast Maha Sinnathamby, entrepreneur Renuga Veeran, badminton player Jonathan Sriranganathan, Councillor for The Gabba Ward in the Brisbane City Council Ecca Vandal, Singer-songwriter Vimala Raman, actress Dhee, Singer Nivethan Radhakrishnan, Cricketer Jega Nadarajah, 2000 Olympic Torchbearer

References

External links

Tamil Australian Media Australia Tamil Association Australian Tamil Congress Australia Tamil Matrimonial Services Tamilians Traditional Sarees