Immigration To Australia From India

Australia has a long history of immigrants from India. The first Indians that came in Australia were mainly Punjabis from the province of Punjab. By faith, they were mainly Sikhs and Muslims. Between 1860 and 1901, more Indians arrived in Australia and worked as agricultural laborers, hawkers and domestic help. Numerous Indians also worked in the gold fields.Migration from India was shortened after the Australian Government initiated the Immigration Restriction Act 1901, however following India's freedom from Britain in 1947, the figure of Anglo-Indians and Indian-born British citizens immigrating to Australia amplified.

Australian citizens or residents in Australia of Indian origin are known as Indian Australians. They comprise both those who are Australian by birth, and gradually more, those born in India. They are one of the rapidly increasing ethnic groups in Australia today.

In 2005-2006 India was the 4th main source of permanent migrants to Australia following the United Kingdom, New Zealand and China. Between 2000and 2006, the number of skilled migrants coming to Australia from India increased from 4,750 to 12,350 people.

Demographics of Indians in Australia
At the 2006 Census 147,106 Australian residents affirmed that they were born in India, of which 79,025 held Australian citizenship. The states of Australia with the largest Indian-born inhabitants were New South Wales (57,156), Victoria (52,853) and Western Australia (15,157).

64,968 of Indians in Australia declared they were Hindu by faith and 49,975 affirmed they were Christian. Other minorities of Indians in Australia comprise Muslims and Sikhs. In 2009 there were an almost 90,000 Indian Students were studying at Australian tertiary institutions as said by Prime Minister Rudd.