Australian Bureau of Statistics Archives

From Ceylon to Australia: Migrant Journeys, 1860s-to-2010s-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Earl Forbes, whose chosen title in The Ceylankan is “Ceylon/Sri Lanka to Australia: Arrivals and Survival” Ceylonese/Sri Lankans have entered Australia for a variety of reasons during the past one and a half centuries. The far greater number of these arrivals occurred in the second half of the twentieth century and first two decades of the 21st century. Early arrivals go as far back as the last two decades of the nineteenth century. Figure 3 Queensland sugarcane plantation workers. … [placed as frontispiece because of its striking character Early Arrivals Before Australian Federation on 01 January 1901, there is evidence of arrivals from Ceylon, mainly to Queensland and a very small number to Victoria and Western Australia. In 1882, a sizable number of Ceylonese arrived in Queensland as indentured labour. With the expansion of sugar cane planting in Queensland at that time, there was an ever-present ...

A crisis of identity By Aubrey Joachim Last night all Australians would have filled in their census data. In a few months the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) would have churned out the analytics that paint a picture of the nation. No doubt the insights will reveal a changing demographic of a nation which is a kaleidoscope of migrants from all parts of the world who have left behind cultures, languages and hopefully their petty differences to enjoy the privileges of a first-world nation and transform into a single Australian identity going forward. As has been seen from past ABS statistics – and surely from this current census – Sri Lankans come out very favourably in the context of English speaking capability, educational qualifications, professional competencies, employability, job positions and income earning levels. These are laudable performance criteria that project the image of a migrant community that is positively ...