Cambodian Australians

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Cambodian Australians
ជនជាតិខ្មែរអូស្ត្រាលី
Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Australia by SLA - BCP field 1255 Cambodia Persons.svg
Total population
57,096 (2021) [1]
Regions with significant populations
Victoria, New South Wales
Languages
Khmer, Australian English, Cham, Teochew
Religion
Theravada Buddhism, Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Khmers, Chinese Cambodians, Asian Australians

Cambodian Australians are Australian citizens who were born, raised in, or from Cambodia usually having Khmer ancestry but also including Chinese Cambodians, Vietnamese Cambodians, Chams and other ethnicities of Cambodia. The term also refers to Australians who have ancestors that were born, raised in, or from Cambodia. According to the 2021 Census, 57,096 claimed Khmer/Cambodian ancestry, with the largest population living in Victoria (23,498). [2] [3]

Contents

History

People born in Cambodia as a percentage of the population in Sydney divided geographically by postal area. Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Inner Sydney by POA - BCP field 1392 Cambodia Total.svg
People born in Cambodia as a percentage of the population in Sydney divided geographically by postal area.

Prior to 1970s most of the few Cambodians in Australia were children of upper income families or having government funded scholarships sent abroad to attend school. After the fall of Phnom Penh to the communist Khmer Rouge in 1975, a few Cambodians managed to escape, but not until the Khmer Rouge was overthrown in 1979 did large waves of Cambodians began immigrating to Australia as refugees. [4] [5]

In order to encourage rapid assimilation into Australian culture and to spread the economic impact, Australian government settled the 10,000 refugees in various towns and cities throughout the country.

However, once established enough to be able to communicate and travel, many Cambodians began migrating within Australia to certain localities where the climate was more like home, where they knew friends and relatives had been sent, or where there were rumored to be familiar jobs.

Consequently, large communities of Cambodians took root in major cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. The suburb of Springvale in Melbourne has a notably large Cambodian population.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ Community Information Summary - Cambodia-born
  2. ↑ "Census of Population and Housing: Cultural diversity data summary, 2021".
  3. ↑ "2021 People in Australia who were born in Cambodia, Census Country of birth QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  4. ↑ The Australian People.
  5. ↑ "Cambodian community profile". www.vic.gov.au. 27 March 2024. Retrieved 21 September 2025.


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