Tamil Australians refers to

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

with a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

background. It includes people who speak

, those whose ancestors were Tamil or those who identify with

Tamil culture Tamil culture is the culture of the Tamil people. Tamil culture is rooted in the arts and ways of life of Tamils in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, and across the globe. Tamil culture is expressed in language, literature, music, dance, thea ...

. Most Tamil Australians are of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Singaporean Singaporeans, or the Singaporean people, refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, Ind ...

or Malaysian descent.

Demographics

The Census 2016 has found 73161 people speaking Tamil at home. Out of this 28,055 people are born in India and 27,352 people are born in Sri Lanka. Australian born Tamil speakers are counted as 9,979. The total number of ethnic Tamils are around 150,000 people. 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. 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 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 Toongabbie is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. One of the oldest suburbs in Sydney, Toongabbie is located approximately 30 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Greater W ...

(NSW) (1,404 people, or 3.5% of people in that suburb). 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. They live concentrated in

Wentworthville Wentworthville is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wentworthville is located 27 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region. Wentworthville is split bet ...

Pendle Hill Pendle Hill is in the east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Brierfield, Clitheroe and Padiham. Its summit is above mean sea level. It gives its name to the Borough of Pendle. It is an isolated hill in the ...

, Girraween,

and

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A smal ...

in Sydney and in

Glen Waverley Glen Waverley is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Monash local government area. Glen Waverley recorded a population of 42,642 at the 2021 census. History ...

and

Dandenong North Dandenong North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 27 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Greater Dandenong local government area. Dandenong North recorded a population of 22,550 a ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

. 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

* Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer, emeritus professor *

Geraldine Viswanathan Geraldine Viswanathan ( ; born 20 June 1995) is an Australian actress. She gained attention in the role of Kayla in the 2018 film '' Blockers'', for which Refinery29 referred to her as "the film's breakout star". Viswanathan starred in the 2019 ...

, actress *

Nazeem Hussain Nazeem Hussain (born 21 April 1985) is an Australian comedian, actor, television and radio presenter. He is best known as creator and star of two television comedy shows, ''Legally Brown'' (2013-14) and ''Orange Is the New Brown'' (2018). His ...

, comedian *

Clarence Jey Clarence Ranjith Jeyaretnam, better known as Clarence Jey, is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter of Sri Lankan Tamils, Sri Lankan Tamil heritage who has had music chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billbo ...

, record producer *

Suresh Joachim Suresh Joachim Arulanantham (born August 17, 1968) is a Canadian film actor, producer, and multiple-Guinness World Record holder who has broken more than 60 world records. World records Farthest distance run, whilst carrying a 4.5 kg bric ...

, multiple Guinness World Record holder *

Kamahl Kandiah Kamalesvaran ( ta, கந்தையா கமலேஸ்வரன்; born 13 November 1934), better known by his stage name Kamahl, is a Malaysian-born Australian singer and recording artist. His highest charting Australian single, ...

, singer * Palani O. Thevar, Politician, Social Worker, Labor Candidate for Maiwar 2020 https://www.palanithevar.com.au/ * Kumar Mahadevan, Michelin star chef * Jega Nadarajah, Olympic Torch Bearer 2000 Olympics * Duvashen Padayachee, race driver *

Guy Sebastian Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter who was the winner of the first ''Australian Idol'' in 2003, judge on Australia's ''The X Factor'' from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2016, and coach ...

, singer and winner of the first season of ''Australian Idol''; of partial Malaysian Tamil descent *

Prashanth Sellathurai Prashanth Sellathurai (born 1 October 1986) is an Australian gymnast.Maha Sinnathamby Maha Sinnathamby (born 10 December 1939 in Rantau, Seremban, Malaysia) is an Australian businessman and property developer. He is the entrepreneur behind the Greater Springfield Development in Queensland, the largest master-planned community in ...

, entrepreneur *

Renuga Veeran Renuga Veeran (born 20 June 1986) is an Australian badminton player. She has represented both Malaysia and Australia internationally as a badminton player. As part of the Australian Olympic Team,Jonathan Sriranganathan Jonathan Sriranganathan ( ; Sri) is an Australian activist and politician. He was the first ever Queensland Greens councillor, representing The Gabba Ward on the Brisbane City Council from 2016 to 2023. Early life and education Sriranganathan ...

, Councillor for The Gabba Ward in the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...

Ecca Vandal Ecca Vandal is a South African-born, Tamil, Sri Lankan artist. She is a singer-songwriter and rapper currently living in Melbourne, Australia. To date Ecca Vandal has released one self-titled studio album and one EP: ''End of Time''. Early lif ...

, Singer-songwriter *

Vimala Raman Vimala Raman is an Australian actress and former model who has worked in Indian cinema. She appears in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil language films. Born and brought up in Australia, she made her debut in 2006 with the Tamil film ''Poi''. An esta ...

, actress * Dhee, Singer * Prof Rama Jayaraj, Darwin *

Nivethan Radhakrishnan Nivethan Radhakrishnan (born 25 November 2002) is an Indian-born Australian cricketer. He is an all-rounder who bats left-handed and possesses the ability to bowl right-arm off spin and left-arm spin. Personal life Radhakrishnan was born in Ch ...

, Cricketer

References

External links

Australia Tamil Association

Australian Tamil Congress

Tamilians Traditional Sarees
{{Tamil Diaspora Indian Australians Immigration to Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...