People in Australia who were born in Sri Lanka

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 86,412 people in Australia who were born in Sri Lanka. Of these 51.1% were male and 48.9% were female.

Of the population born in Sri Lanka who usually live in Australia, 7.3% were aged 0 - 14 years and 11.6% were aged 65 years and over. The median age of people in Australia who were born in Sri Lanka was 41 years.

Of people in Australia aged 15 years and over who were born in Sri Lanka, 70.5% were married, 1.8% were separated, and 3.7% were divorced.

Of people who usually live in Australia and who were born in Sri Lanka the median age of married people was 45 years. Of people never married, the median age was 25 years.

Of the population born in Sri Lanka who usually live in Australia, 23.4% were attending an educational institution. There were 3.9% in primary school, 3.2% in secondary school and 11.5% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

In Australia of people who were born in Sri Lanka, 30.3% arrived in Australia from 2006 - 2011 and 12.8% from 2001 - 2005.

In Australia of people who were born in Sri Lanka, 63.7% were Australian citizens.

In Australia of people who were born in Sri Lanka and had a spouse or partner, 90.0% had a spouse or partner who was born overseas and 8.1% had a spouse or partner born in Australia.

In Australia of people who were born in Sri Lanka, the most common responses to the religion question were Buddhism 38.1%, Catholic 23.4%, Hinduism 17.8%, Anglican 5.7% and No Religion 2.7%.

In Australia of people who were born in Sri Lanka, 26.7% spoke English only at home. A further 67.3% spoke another language but also spoke English very well or well.

Employment

In Australia of people who were born in Sri Lanka and who were in the labour force, 63.6% worked full-time, 24.8% worked part-time and 6.8% were unemployed.

In Australia of people who were born in Sri Lanka and who were employed, 42.1% worked 40 hours or more per week and 26.1% worked 35-39 hours per week.

In Australia of people who were born in Sri Lanka the median age for those who were employed full-time was 43, while the median age for those employed part-time was 38.

In Australia of people who were born in Sri Lanka, the most common responses for occupation were Professionals 31.7%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 16.5%, Labourers 10.7%, Managers 10.1% and Technicians and Trades Workers 9.6%.

In Australia of people who were born in Sri Lanka, the most common responses for industry of employment were Hospitals 5.2%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.6%, Depository Financial Intermediation 3.5%, Tertiary Education 3.0% and Computer System Design and Related Services 3.0%.

In Australia of people who were born in Sri Lanka, the personal weekly median income was $686. Family median weekly income was $1,754 and Household median weekly income was $1,675.

Family and Household are determined for the selected country of birth, 'All overseas born' and 'Australian born' by the Reference Person and/or their spouse/partner's response to country of birth. See explanatory notes for more information.

In Australia 63.4% of employed people who were born in Sri Lanka, travelled to work on census day by car, while 16.6% travelled by bus or train.

In Australia 69.1% of people who were born in Sri Lanka did unpaid domestic work in the week before the census, and 29.2% cared for a child or children in the two weeks before the census.

In Australia of people who were born in Sri Lanka and who did unpaid domestic work in the week before the census, 25.9% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.0% worked 15 to 29 hours and 11.4% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

For important information on how migrant families are classified, please see the explanatory notes

These statistics are for families in Australia. They are for families where the reference person was born in Sri Lanka and also include households where the reference person was born in Australia, or did not state their country of birth, but had a partner or spouse who was born in Sri Lanka. Of these families, 61.2% were couple families with children, 30.9% were couple families without children and 6.5% were one parent families.

Weekly incomes

These statistics are for families in Australia. They are for families where the reference person was born in Sri Lanka and also include households where the reference person was born in Australia, or did not state their country of birth, but had a partner or spouse who was born in Sri Lanka. Of these families, the median weekly income for families without children was $2,126 and for families with children the median weekly income was $2,403.

Employment status of couple families

These statistics are for families in Australia. They are for families where the reference person was born in Sri Lanka and also include households where the reference person was born in Australia, or did not state their country of birth, but had a partner or spouse who was born in Sri Lanka. Of these families, 27.1% of families had both parents working full-time, 19.3% of families had one parent working full-time and one parent working part-time, and 11.3% of families stated that both parents were not working.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

For important information on how migrant households are classified, please see the explanatory notes

These statistics are for occupied private dwellings in Australia. For the dwellings that were occupied on census night by a person or persons who were born in Sri Lanka, 69.6% were a separate house, 18.2% were a flat, unit or apartment, and 11.8% were a semi-detached, row or terrace house, townhouse etc.

These statistics are for occupied private dwellings in Australia. For the dwellings that were occupied on census night by a person or persons who were born in Sri Lanka, 18.5% had two bedrooms, 37.2% had three bedrooms and 38.2% had four or more bedrooms.

Mortgage & rent

These statistics are for occupied private dwellings in Australia. For the dwellings that were occupied on census night by a person or persons who were born in Sri Lanka, 18.6% were owned outright, 46.4% were owned with a mortgage and 32.7% were rented. The median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,167 and the median weekly rent paid was $310.

Household composition

All occupants of a private dwelling complete one census form and are counted as a household. 'People born in Sri Lanka' includes households in Australia where at least one person was born in Sri Lanka. Of those households, 80.8% were one family households and 11.2% were lone person households.