Sri Lankan Australian
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
103,772 by ancestry (2011) 86,412 born in Sri Lanka (2011) Over 0.48% of the population |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Victoria
|
43,9911 |
 New South Wales
|
23,7041 |
 Queensland
|
7,6961 |
 Western Australia
|
5,3391 |
 South Australia
|
2,6701 |
 Australian Capital Territory
|
2,2681 |
 Northern Territory
|
4471 |
 Tasmania
|
2951 |
| Languages | |
| English, Sinhala, Tamil | |
| Religion | |
| Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Roman Catholic and Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Sri Lankans | |
|
1 Populations based on Sri Lankan born population only, 2011 census. |
|
Sri Lankan Australians refers to people of Sri Lankan heritage living in Australia; this includes Sri Lankans by birth and by ancestry. Sri Lankan Australians constitute one of the largest groups of Overseas Sri Lankans and is the largest Sri Lankan diaspora community in Oceania. Sri Lankan Australians include Sinhalese people, Sri Lankan Tamils, Sri Lankan Moors, Burghers and others.
Recorded Sri Lankan immigration to Australia started in 1816, with the transportation of Drum Major William O'Dean (a Sri Lankan Malay) and his wife Eve (a Sinhalese). Early immigrants from Sri Lanka (at that time known as Ceylon) were generally (unlike the O'Deans) absorbed into the Aboriginal population. Other early references of Sri Lankan migration date back to the 1870s when authorities in South Australia sought out the possibility of importing labour from Ceylon. The first Sinhalese from Sri Lanka arrived in 1870 to work in sugarcane plantations in Queensland. A community was believed to exist on Thursday Island in 1876. In 1882, a group of 500 left Colombo for Queensland, mostly in Mackay.
Under the White Australia policy, immigration was negligible. It resumed after the Second World War primarily involving migration of Burghers, who fulfilled the then criteria that they should be of predominantly European ancestry and that their appearance should be European. By 1954 around 2000 Sri Lankans had been accepted. Sinhalese migration began in the 1960s but it was after the mid-1970s that large groups arrived, which also included Christians and Buddhists. During the 1970s intake restrictions loosened and Sri Lankan students undertook courses in Australia as part of the Colombo Plan prior to the formal dismantling of the White Australia policy, and after 1973 and from the early 1980s Sinhalese, Tamil and Moor migration resumed and increased.
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