Hinduism in Australia

Last updated

Australian Hindus
Aum Om red.svg
Perth sivan koyil.jpg
Perth Shiva Temple
Total population
Increase2.svg 684,002 (2021)
Increase2.svg 2.7% of the Australian population [1]
Regions with significant populations
Languages
English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, Fiji Hindi, Nepali, Mauritian Creole, Indian languages
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1911 414—    
1933 212−3.00%
1986 21,500+9.11%
1991 43,580+15.18%
1996 67,270+9.07%
2001 95,473+7.25%
2006 148,123+9.18%
2011 275,534+13.22%
2016 440,300+9.83%
2021 684,002+9.21%

Hinduism is the third largest religion in Australia consisting of more than 684,002 followers, making up 2.7% of the population as of the 2021 census. [2] Hinduism is the fastest growing religion in Australia mostly through immigration. [3] Hinduism is also one of the most youthful religions in Australia, with 34% and 66% of Hindus being under the age of 14 and 34, respectively. [4]

Contents

In the nineteenth century, the British first brought Hindus from India to Australia to work on cotton and sugar plantations. Many remained as small businessmen, working as camel drivers, merchants and hawkers, selling goods between small rural communities. Today, many Hindus are well educated professionals in fields such as medicine, engineering, commerce and information technology, constituting a model minority.[ citation needed ] The Hindus in Australia are mostly of Indian origin; other origins include those from Sri Lanka, Fiji, Malaysia, Bali, Cham, Singapore, Mauritius, and Nepal.

History

The following dates briefly outline the arrival of Hinduism.

Demographics

Hindu population by year

YearPercentIncrease
19860.14%-
19910.25%+0.11%
19960.38%+0.13%
20010.51%+0.13%
20060.75%+0.24%
20111.28%+0.53%
20161.90%+0.62%
20212.7%+0.80%

Hindus by state or territory

Hinduism is one of the fastest growing religion in absolute numbers in every state and territory of Australia. Fastest Growing Religions in Australia 2016.png
Hinduism is one of the fastest growing religion in absolute numbers in every state and territory of Australia.
People who are affiliated with Hinduism as a percentage of the total population in Australia divided geographically by statistical local area, as of the 2011 census Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Australia by SLA - BCP field 2775 Hinduism Persons.svg
People who are affiliated with Hinduism as a percentage of the total population in Australia divided geographically by statistical local area, as of the 2011 census

Data from the 2011 Census showed that all states (and A.C.T and the Northern Territory) apart from New South Wales had their Hindu population double from the 2006 census. New South Wales has had the largest number of Hindus since at least 2001.

State or territory2016 census % 2016 census2011 census % 2011 census2011–16 growthReference
New South Wales 181,4022.4%119,8431.7%+61,559 [17]
Victoria 134,9392.3%83,1021.6%+51,837 [18]
Queensland 45,9611.0%28,6090.7%+17,352 [19]
Western Australia 38,7391.6%21,0480.9%+17,691 [20]
South Australia 22,9221.4%13,6160.9%+9,306 [21]
Capital Territory 10,2112.6%6,0531.7%+4,158 [22]
Northern Territory 3,5621.6%1,6420.8%+1,920 [23]
Tasmania 2,5540.5%1,6080.3%+946 [24]

The majority of Australian Hindus live along the Eastern Coast of Australia, mainly in the cities of Melbourne and Sydney. About 39% of Hindus lived in Greater Sydney, 29% in Greater Melbourne, and 8% each in Greater Brisbane and Greater Perth. The states and territories with the highest proportion of Hindus are the Australian Capital Territory (2.57%) and New South Wales (2.43%), whereas those with the lowest are Queensland (0.98%) and Tasmania (0.50%). [25]

According to the 2006 Census, 44.16% of all Australians who were born in India were Hindu, so were 47.20% of those born in Fiji, 1.84% born in Indonesia, 3.42% from Malaysia, and 18.61% from Sri Lanka. [26]

In Tasmania, Hinduism is practised mainly by the ethnic Lhotshampa from Bhutan. [27]

Hindu converts

Hinduism is also more popular among the Anglo-Australians. [28] Many Caucasians in Australia also visit the Hindu temple at Carrum Downs (Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple) and learn Vedic Hindu scriptures in Tamil. [29] The ISKCON Hindu community in Australia has 60,000 members - 70% of whom are Hindus from overseas, with the other 30% being Anglo Australians. [30] The 2016 Census noted 415 Hindus belonging to the indigenous community of Australia (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people). [31]

Languages

As per the Census of 2021, 13.0% of the Australian Hindus use English at home. English (88,832 or 13.0%) is the third most common language spoken by Australian Hindus, behind Hindi (155,242 or 22.7%) and Nepali (111,353 or 16.3%). [32] The number of Australian Hindus speaking various languages in their home according to the 2006 census: [33]

TTY11Y16Y21 [32] Hindus as % of
language speakers
Total275,534440,300684,0022.70%
Hindi81,892119,284155,24278.8%
Nepali21,76650,629111,35383.7%
English39,80058,85588,8320.5%
Gujarati29,25045,88471,97688.5%
Tamil36,94053,76669,80773.2%
Telugu16,71730,72352,58390.2%
Punjabi9,44216,54636,36715.2%
Marathi8,77411,58919,78088.8%
Malayalam5,93811,68717,77222.6%
Kannada5,3838,78313,41991.2%
Bengali5,6858,48111,81016.8%
Fijian Hindi5721,2572,40750.5%
Indonesian1,1711,7552,2153.0%
French1,1801,4011,4252.0%
Konkani6098451,37037.6%
Odia2826941,33895.5%
Sindhi27752189233.9%
Tulu34854384593.2%
Mauritian Creole51488381322.5%
South Asian nfd3,5313,7705487.8%
Malay4355914872.3%
Assamese16530247982.3%
Italian1581583220.1%
Fijian1292131981.9%
Balinese12915619380.8%
Vietnamese1092251920.0%
Sinhalese2321631670.2%
Indo-Aryan nfd1,988633NANA

Hindu temples in Australia

There are currently over forty Hindu temples in Australia. [34]

Contemporary society

According to a national survey reported in 2019, Hindu Australians continues to experience the highest rates of discrimination even after being the model minority. [35] The survey showed that a three quarters of respondents (75%) had experienced discrimination on public transport or on the street. [36] The total fertility rate (TFR) among Hindus is also the second least (least being Buddhists) in Australia with 1.81, which is lower than Christians (2.11) and Muslims (3.03). [37]

Overseas territories

Hinduism is practised by the small number of Malaysian Indians in Christmas Island. [38] [39]

Attacks on Hindu Community

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Census reveals Australia's religious diversity on World Religion Day". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "2021 Census shows changes in Australia's religious diversity | Australian Bureau of Statistics". 28 June 2022.
  3. ↑ "Melbourne's fastest-growing religion". Theage.com.au. 30 June 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  4. ↑ "Australia's Religious Profile from the 2011 Census". Archived from the original on 23 March 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  5. ↑ "Indian overseas Population - Indians in Australia. Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin". NRIOL.
  6. ↑ "Hinduism / Hinduism by country / Hinduism in australia". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ↑ "Early Disciples Celebrate Forty Years of ISKCON in Australia". 7 May 2011. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "History - SRI MANDIR". www.srimandir.org.
  10. ↑ "Oldest temple in Australia celebrates its 35th birthday | Indian Herald". Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "_/|\_ Sri Selva Vinayakar Temple, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia _/|\_".
  12. ↑ Statistics, c=AU; o=Commonwealth of Australia; ou=Australian Bureau of (27 June 2007). "Main Features - Census shows non-Christian religions continue to grow at a faster rate". www.abs.gov.au.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ "Hinduism". www.ncls.org.au.
  14. ↑ "Hinduism Statistics in Australia - okTravel". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "Hindu fastest growing religion in australia". VisaReporter. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  16. ↑ Hasham, Nicole (12 May 2015). "Labor MLC Daniel Mookhey makes Australian political history by swearing on the Bhagavad Gita". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  17. ↑ "Religion - Australia - Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  18. ↑ "Religion - Australia - Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  19. ↑ "Religion - Australia - Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  20. ↑ "Religion - Australia - Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  21. ↑ "Religion - Australia - Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  22. ↑ "Religion - Australia - Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  23. ↑ "Religion - Australia - Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  24. ↑ "Religion - Australia - Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  25. ↑ "Census TableBuilder - Dataset: 2016 Census - Cultural Diversity". Australian Bureau of Statistics – Census 2016. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  26. ↑ "2914.0.55.002 2006 Census Ethnic Media Package" (Excel download). Census Dictionary, 2006 (cat.no 2901.0). Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 June 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  27. ↑ "Diverse Faiths of Tasmania" (PDF). religionsforpeaceaustralia.org.au. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  28. ↑ "This Is How Hinduism Is Getting Popular In Australia - Boldsky.com". 8 March 2017.
  29. ↑ "The rise of Hinduism in Australia, will it continue? | SBS News".
  30. ↑ "More Australians putting their faith in Hinduism – The Citizen".
  31. ↑ "2071.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Reflecting Australia - Stories from the Census, 2016".
  32. 1 2 "SBS Australian Census Explorer".
  33. ↑ "Census 2011 Australia | ABS Population Income | SBS Census Explorer". Sbs.com.au. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  34. ↑ "Australian Hindu Temples and Associations - Hindu Council of Australia".
  35. ↑ "Hindu Australians experience highest rates of discrimination". 28 February 2017.
  36. ↑ "National survey finds Australians worried about relatives marrying Muslims".
  37. ↑ "FactCheck Q&A: The facts on birth rates for Muslim couples and non-Muslim couples in Australia". 24 July 2017.
  38. ↑ "Island induction | Christmas Island District High School". Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  39. ↑ Simone Dennis (2008). Christmas Island: An Anthropological Study. Cambria Press. pp. 91–. ISBN   9781604975109.
  40. ↑ PTI (26 January 2023). "India slams vandalisation of three Hindu temples in Australia and glorification of anti-India terrorists". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  41. ↑ "Third Hindu temple vandalised in Melbourne after India demands swift action". SBS Language. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  42. ↑ "Third Temple vandalised in Australia with Hindu hate graffiti by Khalistan supporters - The Australia Today" . Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  43. ↑ "Hindu temple in Australia gets threat calls; asked to raise Khalistani slogans". Hindustan Times. 18 February 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  44. ↑ "Australia: Another Hindu temple vandalised by pro-Khalistan supporters in Brisbane". The Week. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  45. ↑ "Shree Laxmi Narayan Temple vandalised by Khalistan supporters in Brisbane - The Australia Today". 4 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  46. ↑ "Another Hindu temple vandalised by Khalistani groups in Australia, this time in Brisbane". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  47. ↑ Singh, IP (18 September 2023). "Oz police see 'Hindu hand' in temple graffiti, advise closure". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  48. ↑ "Indian temple in Australia defaced by 'anti-social elements' with 'anti-India' graffiti". The Indian Express. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  49. ↑ "Sydney Hindu BAPS Swaminarayan Temple Vandalised by Khalistani Goons - The Australia Today". 5 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.