Hazara Australians
Hazara Australians or Australian Hazaras are Australians who have Hazara ancestry. The Hazaras are an ethnic group native to, and primarily residing in, the mountainous region of Hazarajat in central Afghanistan. Many Hazara Australians have also migrated from Pakistan. The Hazara Council of Australia is an organization formed by the Hazara community of Australia. Hazaras constitute one of the largest ethnic groups of asylum seekers in Australia.
According to the 2021 Australian census, of the 59,797 Afghan-born Australians, 44.3% recorded their ancestry as Hazara, making Hazaras the second ethnic group amongst Australians born in Afghanistan. Including individuals born in Australia, the Hazara Australian population numbers 41,758 as of 2021.
History
Before 1980, relatively few Hazaras came to Australia for educational purposes. During the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War and the 1990s civil war, over 5,000 Hazaras arrived in Australia. The Hazara Australian community has produced a sizable number of individuals notable in many fields, including law, medicine, engineering, teaching and business.Location
By far the largest number of Australian Hazaras reside in Greater Melbourne, where, at the time of the 2021 Census, there were 17,622 individuals with Hazara ancestry, representing 0.4% of the city's population. They are mainly concentrated in the South-Eastern suburbs, particularly in the LGA's of Casey, especially in the suburbs of Doveton and Narre Warren South, and Greater Dandenong, mainly within the suburb of Dandenong. There is also a small but growing Hazara community in Melbourne's west, mainly in The City of Brimbank, that numbered 466 individuals at the time of the 2021 Census, and in the city's north, mainly in The City of Hume, concentrated within the suburb of Craigieburn, that numbered 400 people.The city with the second largest number of Hazara Australians is Adelaide, where 6,963 people identified their ancestry as Hazara at the 2021 Census, representing 0.5% of the city's population. It also has the highest number of Australian Hazaras per capita of any major Australian city. They mostly live throughout the city's northern suburbs, particularly in the LGA's of Salisbury, mainly in the suburbs of Paralowie and Parafield Gardens, and Port Adelaide Enfield, almost exclusively in the suburbs of Kilburn and Blair Athol.
In Sydney, the 2021 Census recorded 6,915 individuals with Hazara ancestry, representing just over 0.1% of the city's population. They are mainly concentrated in the city's west, mostly in the LGA of Cumberland, mainly in the suburbs of Auburn and Merrylands, and the LGA of Blacktown.
The 2021 Census recorded 3,717 Hazaras residing in Greater Perth, amounting to roughly 0.2% of the city's population. They mostly live in the Western suburbs, primarily within the City of Gosnells, mainly in the suburbs of Maddington and Gosnells with a smaller population in the north of the city, in the LGA of Swan.
In Greater Brisbane, the 2021 Census recorded 3,088 individuals of Hazara ancestry, representing just over 0.1% of the city's population. The southern suburbs are where this community resides, mainly in The City of Logan, primarily within the suburbs of Marsden, Woodridge, and Loganlea.
Relatively few Hazara Australians in regional areas, however there are significant populations in Shepparton, and Geelong, specifically the northern suburbs of Corio and Norlane.