divided geographically by postal area, as of the 2011 census Over half (51.6%) of all Sri Lankan Australians live in
Victoria, with the vast majority of those living in the state capital of
Melbourne, with 78,687 individuals in the city recording Sri Lankan or Sinhalese ancestry at the
2021 Census, particularly within the South-Eastern suburbs. Areas with significant populations include the suburbs of
Dandenong,
Clyde North,
Glen Waverley,
Endeavour Hills, and
Craigieburn (All aside Craigieburn are located in the South-East of the city). The number of Sri Lankan Australians counted in 1996, including the second-generation, was 64,068. The 2011 census recorded 86,412 Sri Lankans born in Australia. The rate of assimilation among Sri Lankan Australians is fairly high: among second-generation immigrants, the 'in-marriage' rate was extremely low – 5.6% for brides and 3.0% for grooms. Sinhalese Australians have an exceptionally low rate of return migration to Sri Lanka. In December 2001, the
Department of Foreign Affairs estimated that there were 800 Australian citizens resident in Sri Lanka. It is unclear whether these were returning Sri Lankan emigrants with
Australian citizenship, their Sri Lankan Australian children, or other Australians present on business or for some other reason. Tamils in Australia numbered 19,426 in the 2011 Census. The majority of Tamils born in Sri Lanka came to Australia after 1983 when Sri Lanka faced ethnic turmoil and unrest (
Black July). The Western suburbs of Sydney and the South Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne have a relatively high number of Tamil speaking people. There were 73161 Tamil speakers according to the 2016 Census, with the largest proportion of people across Australia in the Western Sydney suburb of
Westmead (1,425 people, or 3.6% of people in that suburb), followed by
Toongabbie (1,404 people, or 3.5% of people in that suburb). Numerous Tamil schools and Hindu Temples have been established in all main cities to cater for the growing Sri Lankan Tamil population.
Language In 2006, there were 29,055 Australians who spoke Sinhalese at home. SBS Radio is available in Sinhalese, and Melbourne television channel
Channel 31 runs the
Sri Lankan Morning show, which has sections in Sinhalese.
Religion In 2021, 45.3% of the Sri Lankan born population in Australia identified as
Buddhist, 19.4% as
Catholic, 16.1% as
Hindu, 4.9% as Irreligious, and 3.6% as
Anglican. Most Sinhalese in Australia are
Theravada Buddhists, and a small percentage of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity. Sri Lankans have established many Theravada Buddhist temples across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia including the Dhamma Sarana Buddhist Temple of
Melbourne's eastern suburbs. The majority of Sri Lankan Tamils are Hindu. The Siva Vishnu Temple in Carrum Downs in the south east of Melbourne is a temple built by Sri Lankan Tamils. The Sunshine Murugan Temple in western Melbourne also caters to the Tamil community. The Sydney Murugan Temple was constructed for the needs of the Tamil population in Western Sydney. Smaller temples have been built in the greater Sydney area. In other cities such as Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Townsville, Darwin, Canberra, and Hobart, Hindu temples have also been built. ==Culture==