SingaporeanAustralians can refer to Australians who are from or are of Singaporean descent or Singaporeans residing in Australia for work or educational purposes. According to the 2006 Australian census, 39,969 Australians were born in Singapore while 4,626 claimed Singaporean ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry. In 2019, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs statistics showed the Singaporean community in Australia had a population of 64,739, with the number including both Australians of Singapore origin and Singaporeans residing in Australia. It is the 2nd largest community of overseas Singaporeans, behind the community in Malaysia.
History
Singaporean migration began during Australia's gold rush period, with Chinese Singaporeans being the main migrant group. In the 1960s, as the Australian government began to loosen policies on immigration, Australia became a popular choice for Singaporean students studying overseas and migration. In the late 1980s, it was recorded that 16,400 Australians were of Singaporean origin and it was also during this period of time that Australian universities began having sizeable communities of Singaporean students, recording 1,266 students being enrolled. In 1995, the United NationsDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs reported that there were 29,812 people within the Singaporean Australian community, with students accounting for about 40% of population, as the Australian Census of 1996 recorded about 11,000 students from Singapore enrolled in universities in the country. By 1998, the population was estimated to have grown to 35,933 people. Other than for education, some other reasons for settling in Australia in the 1990s were, the quality of life, higher salaries and intermarriages between Singaporeans and Australians. With the increase in the population of Singaporeans in Australia, a number of Singaporean clubs and associations were set up to support the communities located across the country. From 2005 to 2010, the population of the community had increased from 43,070 to 53,550 and it was during this period that the Singapore government had set up an Overseas Singaporean unit to engage overseas communities of Singaporeans as the number of Singaporeans living aboard increased. Singaporean associations and clubs were also allowed to apply for funding through the unit to organise events during important festivals such as Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali, Vesak Day, Christmas, Good Friday and New Year's Day which are celebrated by the different major racial and religious groups back in Singapore. Factors contributing to the increase in Singaporeans in Australia remained the same, with a majority of them there for education and work and with some of them eventually settling down in Australia permanently. In recent years, however, more Singaporean students have plans to return to Singapore after completing their studies as the Australian government introduced stricter policies on working visas and immigration.
Demographics
In 1996, most of the Singaporean communities were concentrated in Western Australia, New South Wales, Sydney and Victoria. The state of Victoria had a sizeable community of Singaporeans or Singapore-born Australians, with 6,557 individuals that were of Singaporean origin. In 2001, that number increased to 7,661, with most of them residing in Melbourne. The community had a Singaporeans of mixed ethnicities, with most of them being Chinese Singaporeans, followed by Malay Singaporeans and Indian Singaporeans, which echoed the diverse ethnic make-up of Singapore's population. A variety of languages was spoken at home by the community, with 40% speaking Mandarin and other Chinese dialects, 6% speaking Malay and 2% speaking Tamil and the rest speaking English. By 2016, according to the Australian Census, Victoria was home to the highest number of Singaporean Australians, 16,063 people, out of the total of 54,939 in the community. Western Australia was 2nd, being home to 14,987 individuals, followed by New South Wales and Queensland. 47.7% were of Chinese Singaporean ancestry, 8.8% were of Indian Singaporean ancestry and 6.6% were of Malay Singaporean ancestry. English was the home language of 49% in the community, followed by Mandarin at 28.8% and 6% spoke Malay.
