Malaysian Australians () refers to Malaysians who have migrated to Australia or Australian-born citizens who are of Malaysian descent. This may include Malaysian Chinese, Malays, Malaysian Indians, Orang Asal, mixed Malaysians and other groups.
History Malay labourers were brought over to Australia to work mainly in the copra, sugarcane, pearl diving and trepang industries. In the case of Cocos Islands, the Malays were first brought as slaves under Alexander Hare in 1826, but were then employed as coconut harvesters for copra. Possibly the first Malay immigrant to Australia was a 22-year-old convict named Ajoup who arrived in Sydney on 11 January 1837. Ajoup, described as 'of the Malay faith', had been sentenced in Cape Town, South Africa, to 14 years transportation to New South Wales. He received his ticket of leave—that is, his freedom—in the colony in 1843.
The 1871 colonial census records that 149 Malays were working in Australia as pearl divers in northern and western Australia, labourers in South Australia's mines, and on Queensland's sugar plantations. At Federation in 1901, there were 932 Malay pearl divers in Australia, increasing to 1860 by 1921. In Western Australia and the Northern Territory, Malay pearl divers were recruited through an agreement with the Dutch. By 1875, there were 1800 Malay pearl divers working in Western Australia alone. Most of them returned home when their contracts expired. The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 severely curtailed this community's growth.
Demography
At the 2006 Census 92,335 Australian residents stated that they were born in Malaysia. 64,855 Malaysian born Australian residents declared having Chinese ancestry (either alone or with another ancestry), 12,057 declared a Malay ancestry and 5,848 declared an Indian ancestry. The proportion of Malaysian-born individuals in Australia who claim Chinese ancestry is 70.2%, which is markedly different from the proportion of Malaysians in Malaysia who claim Chinese ancestry (22.9%). The proportion of Malaysians in Australia that claim Indian ancestry (6.3%) is similar to the proportion in Malaysia (7.1%). From these statistics, it is clear that migration from Malaysia to Australia has not reflected a cross-section of Malaysia, but rather, is heavily skewed away from the Malay natives and towards the ethnic Chinese community and to a lesser extent the ethnic Indian community.
Religion Though Islam is the major religion in Malaysia, Islam is the minority religion among Malaysians in Australia. In 2016, 11,633 people from 165,616 Malaysian Australians, or 7% of the Malaysian Australian population, identified as Muslim, up from 7,610 Muslims or 5.2% in 2016.
According to the data from Australian Bureau Statistics in 2016, 24.1% from Malaysian Australians population identifying as Buddhists, 20.9% as No religion, 12.7% as Catholic, 5.6% as Other Christian and 5.2% as Muslim.
According to Australian Bureau Statistics in 2021, 24.1% from Malaysian Australian population identifying as No religion, 23.8% as Buddhists, 11.8% as Catholic, 7.0% as Muslim and 5.9% as Other Christians.
Languages Slightly more than half (46,445) had Australian citizenship, and 47,521 had arrived in Australia in 1989 or earlier. 32,325 spoke English at home, 24,347 spoke Cantonese, 18,676 spoke Mandarin and 5,329 spoke Malay. Malaysian Australians were resident in Melbourne (29,174), Sydney (21,211) and Perth (18,993).ABS Census – ethnicity
Notable Malaysian Australians Name Born – DiedNotable forConnection with AustraliaConnection with MalaysiaNishan Velupillay 2001– Footballer Born in Australia, represents Australia in international football Father is Malaysian with Sri Lankan heritageChe'Nelle 1983– singerlives in Australia born Kota KinabaluEddie Woo1985– mathematics teacherborn in Camperdown, New South WalesParents migrated from MalaysiaDr Yvonne Ho AM public speaker, businesswoman, educator, medical specialist, philanthropistfirst Malaysian-born woman to receive Order of Australia awardborn in MalaysiaChandran Kukathas1957– political theorist, professor and head of Department of Government, London School of Economicsstudied and taught in Australia from 1970s to 2000sborn in MalaysiaDiana Chan1988– MasterChef Australia winnerLiving in Australiaborn in MalaysiaRemy Hii1986/87– actorlives in Australia of Malaysian descentNick Kyrgios1995– Professional tennis playerborn in Canberra mother is MalaysianKamahl 1934– singerlives in Australia; immigrated 1953 born Kuala LumpurBrendan Gan 1988– football (soccer) playerlives in Australia of Malaysian descentMatthew Davies 1995– football (soccer) playerborn in Perth, lives in Australia of Malaysian descentAdam Liaw 1978– lawyer, author and television cheflives in Australia; immigrated 1980 born in PenangCheong Liew cheflives in Australia; immigrated 1969 born Kuala LumpurChong Lim musician, music directorlives in Australia born IpohOmar Musa 1984– author, poet and rapperborn in Queanbeyan Father is from MalaysiaGuy Sebastian 1981– singerlives in Australia; immigrated as child born KlangPria Viswalingam 1962– documentary and film maker works in Australia born MalaysiaJames Wan 1977– film director, screenwriter and producerbrought up in Australia and studied there born KuchingPenny Wong 1968– politician, leader of the Australian Labor Party in the Senate, former Finance Ministerlives in Australia; Australian mother; immigrated 1977 born Kota Kinabalu, Chinese Malaysian fatherPoh Ling Yeow 1973– artist and television chefmoved to Adelaide in 1982 born and raised in Kuala LumpurGeraldine Viswanathan 1995– ActressBorn in AustraliaFather is MalaysianVivien Tan?–former model, 1-time actress in British-Australian TV series The Other Side of Paradise, former Channel [V] VJ, and present TV host, chef and entrepreneurAustralian mother, lived in Australia to studyMalaysian fatherLina Teoh1976– model, actress, TV host, former Channel [V] VJ, and former beauty queen (Miss World 1998)born and grew up in MelbourneChinese Malaysian fatherIan Goodenough1975–politician, member of Liberal Party of Australiamigrated to Australia as a child in 1984, naturalized Australian citizen in 1987partial Chinese Malaysian descentSam Lim1961–politician, member of the Australian Labor Partymigrated to Australia in 2005born in MuarChristopher Chung (actor)1988Actor born and raised to a Malaysian Chinese father and Irish motherFather is Malaysian ChineseSean Lee1995 -Doctor and Artist. Winner of inaugural Eckersley’s Art & Craft Prize 2025New South Wales Based Malaysian Chinese HeritageMalaysian Chinese HeritageSiang LuAuthor and Winner of Miles Franklin Literary Award for novel: "Ghost Cities" 2025Brisbane Based Malaysian Chinese HeritageMalaysian ChineseKhai Liew1952 - 2023Was an award winning South Australian Furniture designer / artist. South Australian Malaysian Chinese HeritageMalaysian Chinese
See also
Islam in Australia Asian Australians Cocos Malays Australia–Malaysia relations Malaysian New Zealanders
References
Further reading Cleland, Bilal. The Muslims in Australia: A Brief History. Melbourne: Islamic Council of Victoria, 2002. JPS Bach, 'The pearlshelling industry and the "White Australia" policy', Historical Studies, Australia and New Zealand, vol. 10, no. 38, May 1962, pp. 203–213 Bilal Cleland, Muslims in Australia: A Brief History, www.icv.org.au/history.shtml Nahid Kabir, Muslims in Australia: Immigration, Race Relations, and Cultural History, Kegan Paul, London, 2004 Nahid Kabir, 'Muslims in Western Australia, 1870–1970', Journal of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society, vol. 12, part 5, 2005, pp. 550–565 L Manderson, 'Malays' in James Jupp (ed.), The Australian People, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1988, pp. 691–93 Daniel Oakman, Facing Asia: A History of the Colombo Plan, Pandanus Press, Canberra, 2004 Gwenda Tavan, The Long, Slow Death of White Australia, Scribe, Melbourne 2005
External links History of immigration from Malaysia Muslim Journeys – Arrivals – Malays HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES – "there was a place called 'Malay Town' set up in Cairns ..." Malay boy, Broome [CC-By-SA] (History of Malaysians in Sydney)