MELBOURNE, 22 March 2022: The Indian Diaspora was the fastest-growing Diaspora in Australia in 2020 and is expected to reach 1.07 million by 2035, says the report ‘Australia’s National Asset: Mapping the community’s reach into Australia-India Economic Relationship March 2022’ released by the Australia India Institute (AII) today at a function at the University of Melbourne with Trade Minister Dan Tehan and AII CEO Lisa Singh present.
The report is an exhaustive 40 pages long and covers all aspects of Australia’s Indian Diaspora which has gained importance in the context of strong emerging relations between Australia and India. It’s revealing with the ‘Executive Summery’ summing up its composition- socially, economically and culturally. The economic clout of the Indian Diaspora is evident as one moves through the report. It is this the Australian Government wants to connect within its increasing multifacet relations with India, despite the two countries taking different views on the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Indian Diaspora is diverse with six main linguistic communities within it – Hindi, Punjabi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Tamil & Telugu. It’s rightly said, ” Diaspora community groups are disparate and diverse, reflecting the plurality of Indian society, and no group can speak for the Australian Indian diaspora as a whole.”
The report is divided into seven parts with further subdivisions: Introduction, Indian Diaspora In Australia, A Snapshot Of Diaspora Groups’ Potential Economic Contributions, Focus Areas For Discussion, References, List OF Figures, and List Of Tables.
The report is very informative, revealing and full of surprises. A section about the Diaspora participation in Australian politics at the state and national level would have been appropriate. Plus, the Indian Diaspora’s recent trends connected to politics at home need mention.
