Tamil Australians
Total population | |
---|---|
50,151 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
State / Territory | |
![]() |
21,527 |
![]() |
17,452 |
![]() |
4,078 |
![]() |
3,475 |
![]() |
1,703 |
![]() |
1,416 |
![]() |
280 |
![]() |
216 |
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.
Demographics


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.[1] However, the number of Australians who identified their ancestry, either first or second, as Tamil was only 19,434.[2] Most Tamil speaking Australians identified their ancestry as Indian or Sri Lankan.[2]
Ancestry | Language (First Ancestry) | Language (Second Ancestry) | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tamil | English | Sinhala | Not Stated |
Other | Total | Tamil | English | Sinhala | Not Stated |
Other | Total | |
Tamil | 11,407 | 1,057 | 85 | 58 | 149 | 12,756 | 650 | 257 | 16 | 13 | 48 | 984 |
Indian Tamil | 406 | 50 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 478 | 21 | 12 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 32 |
Sri Lankan Tamil | 4,153 | 702 | 102 | 27 | 41 | 5,025 | 62 | 83 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 159 |
Sub-total Tamil | 15,966 | 1,809 | 191 | 88 | 205 | 18,259 | 733 | 352 | 22 | 13 | 55 | 1,175 |
Indian | 20,923 | 77,033 | 64 | 3,204 | 249,641 | 350,865 | 540 | 31,992 | 38 | 217 | 7,246 | 40,033 |
Sri Lankan | 8,534 | 23,792 | 27,862 | 442 | 1,551 | 62,181 | 300 | 11,541 | 679 | 47 | 389 | 12,956 |
Australian | 748 | 4,777,283 | 684 | 24,942 | 118,275 | 4,921,932 | 82 | 2,135,198 | 50 | 6,458 | 34,761 | 2,176,549 |
Sinhalese | 942 | 2,351 | 16,898 | 115 | 225 | 20,531 | 76 | 901 | 1,372 | 13 | 54 | 2,416 |
English | 862 | 7,062,120 | 809 | 33,676 | 125,990 | 7,223,457 | 7 | 13,136 | 8 | 107 | 1,821 | 15,079 |
Malay | 502 | 6,973 | 17 | 134 | 13,230 | 20,856 | 91 | 9,015 | 32 | 56 | 3,568 | 12,762 |
Singaporean | 178 | 1,930 | 0 | 123 | 1,302 | 3,533 | 25 | 2,083 | 0 | 13 | 498 | 2,619 |
Not 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 | 15,055,039 |
Other | 640 | 4,164,549 | 754 | 42,924 | 3,202,008 | 7,410,875 | 313 | 3,870,132 | 281 | 17,808 | 300,557 | 4,189,091 |
Total | 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 2011 census, over 39.59% of Tamil speaking Australians were born in Sri Lanka, 34.89% in India and 13.05% in Australia.[2]
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.[1]
State Suburb |
State | Tamils | % of suburb |
% of Tamils |
---|---|---|---|---|
Wentworthville[3] | NSW | 1,073 | 10.13% | 2.14% |
Glen Waverley[4] | VIC | 945 | 2.41% | 1.88% |
Dandenong[5] | VIC | 935 | 3.75% | 1.86% |
Westmead[6] | NSW | 908 | 6.41% | 1.81% |
Toongabbie[7] | NSW | 853 | 6.56% | 1.70% |
Pendle Hill[8] | NSW | 849 | 12.74% | 1.69% |
Strathfield[9] | NSW | 815 | 3.45% | 1.63% |
Girraween[10] | NSW | 760 | 16.19% | 1.52% |
Auburn[11] | NSW | 659 | 1.99% | 1.31% |
Lidcombe[12] | NSW | 658 | 3.95% | 1.31% |
Seven Hills[13] | NSW | 650 | 3.45% | 1.30% |
Homebush[14] | NSW | 588 | 9.49% | 1.17% |
Dandenong North[15] | VIC | 531 | 2.42% | 1.06% |
More than 80% have completed high school education which is only 50% for the general Australian population.[1] More than 59% own their houses while more than 67% of the general population own their houses.[1]
Notable Tamil Australians
- Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer, emeritus professor
- Clarence Jey, record producer
- Suresh Joachim, multiple Guinness World Record holder
- Kamahl, singer
- Prashanth Sellathurai, gymnast
- Maha Sinnathamby, entrepreneur
- Myuran Sukumaran, alleged ring leader of the Bali 9
- Renuga Veeran, badminton player
- Nick Kyrgios, tennis player
References
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External links
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