South African Australians
Suid-Afrikaanse Australiërs | |
|---|---|
South Africa (green) and Australia (orange) | |
| Total population | |
| 144,666 (by ancestry, 2021) (0.6% of the Australian population) 214,790 (by birth, 2022) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| New South Wales | 39,548 |
| Queensland | 35,226 |
| Western Australia | 33,310 |
| Victoria | 26,082 |
| South Australia | 6,288 |
| Languages | |
| South African English, Australian English, Afrikaans and other South African languages | |
| Religion | |
| Majority: Reformed Christianity Minority: Anglicanism, other Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, Hinduism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 61,810 | — |
| 2001 | 86,820 | +40.5% |
| 2006 | 119,490 | +37.6% |
| 2011 | 161,590 | +35.2% |
| 2016 | 180,480 | +11.7% |
| 2020 | 200,240 | +10.9% |
| 2022 | 206,730 | +3.2% |
| 2023 | 214,790 | +3.9% |
| Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics | ||
South African Australians (Afrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse Australiërs) are citizens or residents of Australia who are of South African descent.
According to the 2021 Australian census, 189,207 Australian residents were born in South Africa, making up 0.7% of the country's population. In addition, 144,666 people born in Australia claim South African ancestry, making up 0.6% of the total population. A strong majority of South African Australians are Australian citizens, with 76% possessing Australian citizenship. In the same 2021 census, 144,666 Australian residents claimed "South African" ancestry while another 6,153 stated their ancestry as "Afrikaner" and 501 as "Zulu".
Immigration from South Africa to Australia consists overwhelmingly of people with white ancestry (including many Jews), particularly professionals, and had accelerated during the 1990s following the end of apartheid. More than half of all South African Australians arrived after the 1994 general election, which saw the victory of Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC). A behaviour stigmatised by white South Africans who remained in their homeland as "Packing for Perth" ("PFP") was also a humorous dig and reference to supporters of the Progressive Federal Party – a political party formed in 1977 that drew support mainly from liberal English-speaking whites. As per 2021 census, 60% of Australians who are born in South Africa, claimed English, Dutch, German and Scottish ancestry, while only 40% claimed "South African" as an ancestry.