Melbourne, Australia – The settlement of people of Indian origin in Australia is increasing rapidly. According to the 2021 census, India is the third most populous country in Australia, surpassing China and New Zealand.
On August 10, 2021, 6,73,352 people living in Australia said they were born in India. This number has increased from 2016 by 47.9 percent (2,20,000).
More than one million migrants have arrived in Australia in the past five years despite the Covid-19 travel ban. Census data released last Tuesday provides the most up-to-date information on cultural diversity, language and religion and finds Australia to be a broadly multicultural nation.
Half of Australians have overseas-born parents and more than one in four were born internationally. Dr Pradeep Taneja, an academic fellow at the Australia India Institute, said he was not surprised that India had become the third largest country of birth for Australians. Taneja said the number of Indians in Australia increased after the Howard government signed a memorandum of understanding with India in 2006 to encourage Indian students to obtain student visas to complete vocational training in Australia.
Religious diversity has also been found to be increasing in Australia. Hinduism in Australia has grown by 55.3 percent in the last 5 years. Currently, the number of people who believe in Hinduism in Australia has reached 6,84,200. According to the 2021 census, this number is 2.7 percent of the total population there.
