1304.5 - Stats Talk WA, Mar 2010  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 30/03/2010   
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Orang Indonesia
Indonesians in WA

West Aussies have a great affiliation with Indonesia, and Bali in particular.

In 2009 over half a million Australians visited Indonesia, Overseas Arrivals and Departures (cat no. 3401.0). Such is this affinity that a number of people from both countries have made the other nation their home. Bagus, ya?

Living in WA
According to the Australian 2006 Census there were 7,899 people living in Western Australia who were born in Indonesia. Of these, 101 persons had a mother who was born in Australia and 205 a father who was di lahirkan in Australia.

There were more Indonesian born wanita than laki-laki living in WA, 4,052 compared to 3,397. There were 244 Australians resident in Bali according to the Badan Pusat Statistik at the time of their 2000 Census.

The ancestry question in the ABS 2006 Census revealed that for those Indonesian born who answered that question, 43% claimed a Chinese ancestry as opposed to 41% an Indonesian ancestry. The only other ancestries above 1% were Dutch (6%), Australian (3%) and English (2%).

The age breakdown reveals that the Indonesian born population in WA consists mainly of orang pemuda, with the under 30s accounting for almost half (48%). There were 5 Indonesian born Western Australians over the age of 100 years in 2006, all male or colloquially, opa.

Indonesian shadow puppet

Languages
The main language spoken at home by the Indonesian born population was, unsurprisingly, Bahasa Indonesia, at 69%. Next was Bahasa Inggris at 18%, then Bahasa Cina 7% and Bahasa Belanda at 2%.
The vast majority of Indonesian born Western Australians spoke English that was ahli (43% very well, 46% well). Only 1% did not speak English at all.

A little over half (57%) of the Indonesian born population are in the labour force, lower than that of all Western Australians (65%). The most popular industries in which they work are Kafe dan restoran (250), Masakan di bawah pulang (188), and Akomodasi (121)

Religions
Indonesia officially recognizes six religions; Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. In Western Australia those religions are represented in the Indonesian born population as follows; Agama Katolik 30%, Agama Protestan 23%, Agama Islam 18%, Agama Buda 9% and Agama Konfusianisme 0.1%.

Most Indonesian born Western Australians are recent arrivals with 43% coming to the land of the kanguru and kakatua since the year 2000. As WA’s nearest foreign tettanga, Indonesians moving to Australia is likely to continue.

Glossary

ahli - proficient
Agama Buda – Buddhist
Agama Islam – Islam
Agama Katolik –Catholic
Agama Konfusianisme – Confucianism
Agama Protestan – Protestant
Akomodasi – accommodation
Badan Pusat Statistik –Statistics Indonesia
Bagus, ya? – That’s great, isn’t it?
Bahasa Indonesia – Indonesian (language)
Bahasa Inggris – English (language)
Bahasa Cina – Chinese (language)
Bahasa Belanda – Dutch (language)
di lahirkan – born
Kafe dan restoran – cafes and restaurants
kakatua – cockatoo
kanguru – kangaroo
laki-laki – men
Masakan di bawah pulang – takeaway food
orang Indonesia - Indonesian (person)
orang - person
orang pemuda – young people
opa – grandpa
tettanga –neighbour
wanita – women