Tamil Speaking People in Australia
By T Ravindiran
The Census of Population and
Housing, popularly known as the Census, is undertaken by the
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) every five years. The most
recent Australian Census was held on Tuesday 9 August 2016.
Among the 61 questions,
Question 16 asked: Does the person speak a language other than
English at home? Those who have stated Tamil as the language spoken
at home is the basis for counting the number of Tamil speaking
people in Australia. Those who have not stated as Tamil, won’t be
counted as Tamil speaking people. Based on the 2016 Census, the
number of Tamil speaking people at home (hereafter, Tamil speaking
people) in Australia was 73,162. Tamil speaking people in Australia
migrated from approximately 55 countries including India, Sri Lanka,
Malaysia and Singapore according to the 2016 Census.
Please note that all Tamils
do not necessarily state Tamil as the language spoken at home in the
Census questionnaire. Hence, the actual number of Tamils in
Australia is likely to be higher than the number of Tamil speaking
people presented here. Here are some highlights based on the 2016
Census and comparisons were made with other years wherever
necessary.
The report is organised
as follows:
Chart 1. Tamil Speaking
People in Australia, 1991-2016
Table 1. Tamil Speaking
People by State and Territory, 2011 and 2016
Table 2. Tamil Speaking
People by Country of Birth, 2011 and 2016
Chart 2. Tamil Speaking
People by Religious Affiliation, 2016
Table 3. Age distribution:
Tamil speaking people and Australia, 2016
Table 4. Gender
distribution: Tamil speaking people and Australia, 2016
Chart 3. Tamil Speaking
People densely populated suburbs in NSW, 2016
Chart 4. Tamil Speaking
People densely populated suburbs in Victoria, 2016
Chart 5. Tamil Speaking
People densely populated suburbs in Queensland, 2016
Chart 6. Tamil Speaking
People densely populated suburbs in Western Australia, 2016
Chart 7. Tamil Speaking
People densely populated suburbs in South Australia, 2016
Chart 8. Tamil Speaking
People densely populated suburbs in Tasmania, 2016
Chart 9. Tamil Speaking
People densely populated suburbs in the Australia Capital Territory,
2016
Chart 10. Tamil Speaking
People densely populated suburbs in the Northern Territory, 2016
Note: The data was compiled
by Mr T Ravindiran accessing ABS Census data. The comments expressed
in this article are those of the author’s own and do not necessarily
reflect the view of the Canberra Tamil Association. Material may be
reproduced provided the source is acknowledged. Constructive
comments are most welcome (ravindiran@grapevine.com.au).
Chart 1 shows that compared
with 2011, the number of Tamil speaking people has increased by
almost 46% in 2016.
Chart 1. Tamil Speaking
People in Australia, 1991-2016
Table 1 shows that among the six
states, compared with 2011, WA recorded the largest increase of 68.9% in
2016.
Table 1. Tamil Speaking People by
State and Territory*, 2011 and 2016
|
State/Territory |
Tamil
Speaking People |
||
|
2011 |
2016 |
%
Change |
|
|
New South Wales |
21,529 |
29,676 |
37.8% |
|
Victoria |
17,452 |
25,664 |
47.1% |
|
Queensland |
3,475 |
5,518 |
58.8% |
|
Western Australia |
4,079 |
6,890 |
68.9% |
|
South Australia |
1,703 |
2,699 |
58.5% |
|
Tasmania |
217 |
308 |
41.9% |
|
Australian Capital
Territory |
1,416 |
1,885 |
33.1% |
|
Northern Territory |
278 |
514 |
84.9% |
|
Australia |
50,153 |
73,162 |
45.9% |
*Australian total includes a very
small number of Other Territories not shown in this table.
Table 2 shows the number of Tamil
speaking people born in India recorded the largest increase of 60.3% in
2016.
Table 2. Tamil Speaking People by
Country of Birth, 2011 and 2016
|
Country of Birth |
Tamil
Speaking People |
||
|
2011 |
2016 |
%
Change |
|
|
India |
17,500 |
28,055 |
60.3% |
|
Sri Lanka |
19,855 |
27,352 |
37.8% |
|
Australia |
6,547 |
9,979 |
52.4% |
|
Malaysia |
2,782 |
3,514 |
26.3% |
|
Singapore |
1,687 |
2,010 |
19.1% |
|
New Zealand |
260 |
341 |
31.2% |
|
England |
199 |
244 |
22.6% |
|
UAE |
104 |
153 |
47.1% |
|
Other countries |
1,217 |
1,514 |
24.4% |
|
Total |
50,151 |
73,162 |
45.9% |
Chart 2 shows Hinduism is the
predominant religion with 73.5%, followed by Christianity, 18.0% and Islam,
4.1%.
Chart 2. Tamil Speaking People by
Religious Affiliation*, 2016
* Other category includes secular
beliefs and inadequately stated responses.
Table 3. Age distribution: Tamil
Speaking People and Australia, 2016
|
Age Group |
Tamils |
Proportion |
Australia |
Proportion |
|
0-4 years |
4,835 |
6.6% |
1,464,782 |
6.3% |
|
5-9 years |
4,987 |
6.8% |
1,502,647 |
6.4% |
|
10-14 years |
3,689 |
5.0% |
1,397,187 |
6.0% |
|
15-19 years |
3,008 |
4.1% |
1,421,597 |
6.1% |
|
20-24 years |
4,174 |
5.7% |
1,566,790 |
6.7% |
|
25-29 years |
7,023 |
9.6% |
1,664,606 |
7.1% |
|
30-34 years |
9,980 |
13.6% |
1,703,846 |
7.3% |
|
35-39 years |
9,246 |
12.6% |
1,561,682 |
6.7% |
|
40-44 years |
6,324 |
8.6% |
1,583,255 |
6.8% |
|
45-49 years |
4,586 |
6.3% |
1,581,456 |
6.8% |
|
50-54 years |
4,085 |
5.6% |
1,523,556 |
6.5% |
|
55 years and above |
11,225 |
15.3% |
6,430,497 |
27.5% |
|
Total |
73,162 |
100.0% |
23,401,901 |
100.0% |
Table 4 shows that there is a significant difference in the gender distribution between the Tamil speaking population and Australian population. Among the Tamil speaking people, females are far outnumbered by males whereas in Australia it is almost spread out evenly.
Table 4. Gender distribution:
Tamil Speaking People and Australia, 2016
|
Gender |
Tamils |
Australian |
|
Male |
53.3% |
49.3% |
|
Female |
46.7% |
50.7% |
Chart 3. Tamil Speaking People
densely populated suburbs in NSW, 2016
Chart 4. Tamil Speaking People densely populated suburbs in Victoria, 2016
Chart 5. Tamil Speaking People densely populated suburbs in Queensland, 2016
Chart 6. Tamil Speaking People densely populated suburbs in Western Australia, 2016
Chart 7. Tamil Speaking People densely populated suburbs in South Australia, 2016
Chart 8. Tamil Speaking People densely populated suburbs in Tasmania, 2016
Chart 9. Tamil Speaking People densely populated suburbs in the Australia Capital Territory, 2016
Chart 10. Tamil Speaking People densely populated suburbs in the Northern Territory, 2016
