ABSTRACT
Indians are one of the oldest non-European migrant groups in Australia. Already at the end of the nineteenth century, Punjabis working in agriculture were a common sight along the east coast of the continent. Since these early days, when numbers were small and most Indians were from Punjab, the Indian diaspora in Australia has undergone enormous changes, growing in numbers and diversity. Today, more than 200,000 Indians of various cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds live in Australia. They are contributing to many sectors of the economy. Indians as a whole are one of the economically most successful migrant groups in Australia. However, the differences between subgroups under the umbrella of the wider Indian diaspora are enormous and one of the aims of this chapter is to outline and analyse this diversity.
