Afghans in Australia 2011

Dr. Noor Ahmad Khalidi

 Based on the results of the latest population census, there were 34,783 persons of Afghan ancestry in Australia in August 2011. This number includes 5,307 Afghans of Hazara ancestry (Hazara Afghans). 

Afghans are defined as all those who indicated their ancestry as “Afghan” in the first and second ancestry questions (ANC1P and ANC2P) plus those who indicated their first ancestry as “Hazara” but did not mention other than Afghan” in the second ancestry question.

The Afghan community in Australia grew 26% per year from 1986 to 1996, 29% per year from 1996 to 2006 and 31% per year from 2006 to 2011, averaging an annual growth rate of 9.8% during the last 25 years. This is one of the fastest community growth evidenced in Australia. For comparison purposes it should be noted that the Australian total population is growing at a rate of 1.4% per year.

A major contributor to the latest accelerated growth of Afghans in Australia is the arrival of the Hazara Afghans now numbering 5,307. Hazara Afghans constitute over 90% of the total Hazara population in Australia, over 15% of all Afghans in Australia. Around 52% of Hazara Afghans arrived in Australia since 2001.

Since the 2006 Census, New South Wales (NSW) was overtaken by Victoria as the state where the majority of Afghans live. In Victoria 12.5 thousand Afghans live followed by NSW with 11.9 thousand, South Australia with 3.9 thousand, Western Australia with 3.7 thousand, Queensland with 2.1 thousand. Less than 500 Afghans live in the Australian Capital Territory (Table 1).

Table 1: Afghan Australians by States & Territories, 2011 Census

States and Territories	All Afghans	Hazara Afghan	Total Hazara
New South Wales	11940	2035	2185
Victoria	12450	1761	1976
Queensland	2181	378	413
South Australia	3872	650	754
Western Australia	3712	446	490
Tasmania	67	-	0
Northern Territory	70	1	7
Australian Capital Territory	491	44	44
Other Territories	0	0	0
Australia	34783	5307	5869

Of the total Afghans who live in Australia, 68.7% were born in Afghanistan and 18.2% were born in Australia. A higher proportion of the Hazara Afghans (76.5%) were born in Afghanistan compared to the all Afghans average (Table 2).

                          Table 2: Afghan Australians by Birth Place, 2011 Census

Birth Place	All Afghans	Hazara Afghans
Afghanistan	68.7%	76.5%
Australia	18.2%	12.9%
Pakistan	5.1%	6.2%
Iran	2.4%	1.8%
Other	3.5%	0.7%
Not stated	2.2%	1.9%
Total	100.0%	100.0%

With a sex ratio of 122, the Afghan community is male dominated (55%) compared to total Australian population (49%). The sex imbalance is more pronounced among the Hazara Afghans where 62% are men (Table 3).

                          Table 3: Sex Composition of Afghan Australians, 2011 Census

Sex Composition	Hazara Afghans	All Afghans	Australia
Male	62%	55%	49%
Female	38%	45%	51%
Sex Ratio	163%	122%	98.9

With a median age of 24.2 years, the Afghan community in Australia is much younger than the Australian total population (median age 37 years). With a median age of 22.4 years, the Hazara Afghans are even younger male dominated community than all Afghans (Table 4).

               Table 4: Age Composition of Afghan Australians, 2011 Census

Age Groups	All Afghans	Hazara Afghans
Under 5 years	9.4%	12.2%
5 to 14 years	16.4%	16.5%
15 to 24	25.3%	28.0%
25 to 34	18.9%	21.9%
35 to 44	13.1%	13.8%
45 to 54	9.2%	5.4%
55 to 64	4.8%	1.5%
65 to 74	1.9%	0.6%
75+	0.9%	0.1%
Total	100.0%	100.0%
Median Age (years)	24.3	22.4

An absolute majority (81.3%) of Afghan Australians speak Dari language at home which includes also Hazaragi and Farsi.

Table 5: Afghan Australians by languages
spoken at home, 2011 Census

Languages	All Afghans
Dari (all dialects)	81.3%
- Dari	49.3%
- Hazaraghi	19.9%
- Farsi	12.1%
Pashto	9.3%
English	4.1%
Other	5.2%
Total	100.0%

On average, Afghan Australians earn much less than an average Australian person. The median weekly personal income of an Afghan Australian is $303.4 compared with $577 for an Australian person. Hazara Afghans earn even less (Table 6).

Table 6: Afghan Australians by average personal weekly income, 2011 Census

Personal Weekly Income	All Afghans	Hazara Afghans
Nil or negative income	11.2%	12.9%
$1-$299 ($10,400-$15,599)	22.7%	25.4%
$300-$599 ($20,800-$31,199)	14.3%	9.9%
$600-$999 ($41,600-$51,999)	10.0%	10.1%
$1,000-$1,499 ($65,000-$77,999)	3.8%	3.0%
$1,500 or more ($104,000 or more)	2.1%	1.4%
Not stated	4.0%	3.6%
Not applicable	25.8%	28.6%
Total	100.0%	100.0%
Median Weekly Income (in Australian Dollars)	$303.4	$281.7

About 27% of Afghan Australians do not speak English well or not at all speak English. With almost 38%, Hazara Afghans score even worse on this indicator.

Table 7: Afghan Australians by Proficiency in English, 2011 Census

Proficiency in English	All Afghans	Hazara Afghans
Speaks English only	4.7%	0.7%
Speaks other language and speaks English: Very well	38.3%	26.2%
Speaks other language and speaks English: Well	28.0%	32.6%
Speaks other language and speaks English: Not well	18.5%	24.6%
Speaks other language and speaks English: Not at all	8.6%	13.3%
Not stated - both language (LANP) and proficiency (ENGP) not stated	0.4%	0.3%
Not stated - language (LANP) stated, proficiency (ENGP) not stated	1.6%	2.3%
Total	100.0%	100.0%

Source of Data:

Tables generated by the author using ABS TableBuilder, © Commonwealth of Australia, 2012