| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 59,797 (by birth, 2021) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Victoria | 25,432 |
 New South Wales | 14,623 |
 South Australia | 8,214 |
 Western Australia | 5,724 |
 Queensland | 4,733 |
| Languages | |
| Dari (Persian dialect),Pashto, otherlanguages of Afghanistan andEnglish | |
| Religion | |
| PredominantlySunni Islam MinorityShia Islam andChristianity[1] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Afghan New Zealanders,Afghan diaspora | |
Afghan Australians (Dari:استرالیایی های افغانتبارOstorâliyâi-hāye Afghān tabar,Pashto:د اسټرالیا افغانانDa Asṭrālyā Afghanan) are Australians tied toAfghanistan either by birth or by ancestry.
The firstAfghans who migrated to Australia arrived mid 19th century ascameleers. Over subsequent decades, they played a crucial role in facilitating British exploration of thecountry's desert centre.
TheAustralian government categorises Afghanistan and allAfghan ethnic groups asCentral Asian Australians.[2][3][4]\
In the 2021 Census, the top-three states with the largest Afghan-born wereVictoria (25,432),New South Wales (14,623) andSouth Australia (8,214).
Although Afghans without camels are reported to have reached Australia as early as 1838,[5] in the latter part of the 19th century several thousand men from Afghanistan,Baluchistan,Kashmir,Sind,Rajasthan, Egypt, Persia, Turkey, andPunjab, but collectively known as "Afghans", were recruited during initial British development of theoutback, especially for the operation of camel trains in desert areas. The first Afghan cameleers arrived inMelbourne in June 1860, when three men arrived with a shipment of 24 camels for theBurke and Wills expedition.[6][7] They continued to work in the arid interior of the continent from the 1860s to the 1930s, until finally being superseded by the development of railways and motorised road transport. The Afghans played an important supportive role in the exploration and economic development of the interior through carting water, food and materials to remote pastoral stations and mining settlements, as well as for the construction of theOverland Telegraph, and thePort Augusta to Alice Springs railway.[6] They also had an important role in establishing theMuslim faith in Australia.
During the 1980sSoviet–Afghan War and the Afghanistan civil wars of the 1990s (1989–1992,1992–1996, and1996–2001), over 7,000 Afghans arrived in Australia.[citation needed]
Afghan refugees, along with those of other nationalities claimingasylum in Australia, have been victims of human rights abuses inimmigration detention centres. One publicised story in 2019 was of an Afghan doctor who studied in China and then claimed asylum in Australia, becoming demoralised during six years in detention and committing suicide in a Brisbane hotel.[8]
Several Afghanistan-born individuals were imprisoned in New South Wales during the 19th and 20th centuries, with their records included in the Gaol Inmates/Prisoners Photos Index (1870-1930).
| Fullname | Date of Birth | Date of Photo | Gaol |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amen Khan[9] | 1857 | 12/12/1887 | Darlinghurst |
| Abas Khan[10] | 1862 | 12/12/1887 | Darlinghurst |
| Fuzzle Deen[11] | 1852 | 16/12/1887 | Darlinghurst |
| Allum Khan[12] | 1861 | 2/05/1894 | Bathurst |
| Gulam Rassoul[13] | 1867 | 25/06/1895 | Bathurst |
| Mirige Gool[15] | 1879 | 28/10/1914 | Goulburn |
Afghan Australians are composed of the variousethnic groups that exist in Afghanistan, which includePashtun,Tajik,Hazara,Uzbek,Turkmen,Baloch, and a number of others.[16]
Cameleers were prohibited from bringing their wives to Australia. Therefore, the Afghan demographic was almost entirely made up of men during this period. TheWhite Australia policy prevented further migration from 1901 until the 1970s.[citation needed]
At the time of the2016 Australian census, there were 46,800 Australian people in Australia who had been born in Afghanistan.[17] The2021 census recorded 59,797 Afghan Australians, a significant increase.[18]
InSydney, the largest portion of Afghan Australians reside in the LGAs ofCity of Ryde (North Ryde,Macquarie Park,Marsfield, andTop Ryde),The Hills Shire (Castle Hill,Cherrybrook, andKellyville),Blacktown (Glenwood,Parklea,Stanhope Gardens andBella Vista) andSutherland Shire (Miranda). EthnicHazaras are believed[by whom?] to reside in suburbs such asAuburn andMerrylands.[citation needed]
In Sydney there are severalmosques at which Afghans gather, one located inNorth Ryde and another located inAuburn. The largest and most significant mosque is located inBlacktown, where the new mosque was inaugurated on 3 May 2014,[19] after being reconstructed on the site of the old mosque. Across the road from the mosque is a cultural centre that hosts ceremonies such as wakes, community elections, awards etc. Custodianship of both properties belongs to the Afghan Community Support Association, the largest association representing Afghans in Australia.[20]
There are[when?] two Saturday schools for Afghan Australian youths:[citation needed]
InMelbourne the majority of Afghans live in Greater Dandenong and Casey. The recent arrival of Afghan asylum seekers by boat has changed the demography of the Afghan Australian community in a significant way. Once only a tiny minority, Hazaras are now more common among the Afghan Australian community in all major cities and small country towns such as Shepparton, Mildura and Swan Hill in Victoria and Griffith in NSW.
Smaller communities of Afghans are also found inAdelaide,Brisbane andPerth. Australian residents at the time of the 2006 Census who were born in Afghanistan arrived mostly in the 1990s (7,707) and since 2000 (8,554). Very few had arrived before 1979 (149). At that time, 9,356 (56%) had acquiredAustralian citizenship.[1]
Most Afghan Australians are fluent in English and their nativeAfghan languages such asPashto andPersian (Dari andHazaragi).[1]
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Most Afghan Australians are Muslims, with an additional small minority of Christians.[1] TheMarree Mosque, the first mosque in Australia, was built by Afghan cameleers in the 19th century, and many more mosques were subsequently built by Afghan Australians, including theAdelaide Mosque in 1888–1889, the oldest permanent mosque in Australia.[21]
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