Syrian Australians

Syrian Australians are Australians of Syrian descent or Syria-born people who reside in the Commonwealth of Australia. Australian Syrians make up 0.4 percent of the Australian population (55,321 people), with a gender split of 51.3 percent female, 49.7 percent male. The 2016 Australian census revealed 68.8 percent of Syrian Australian homes have Arabic as the language spoken at home, however of the homes where English is not the first spoken language, 37.7 percent are able to speak English fluently. The majority of Syrian Australians arrived prior to 2007 (45.2 percent), with a small group immigrating between 2007–2011 (8.5 percent) then a larger group entering between 2012–2016 (41.3 percent).

With Syria once part of the Ottoman Empire, Syrian immigration was only differentiated from Turk immigration in the late 1860s. Syrian immigration to Australia was first reported in the early 1870s, only with a few individuals and groups. Syrian Christians have also been reported to have been fleeing Syria at the time, through the persecution of the Ottomans. Immigration restrictions started to ease after the White Australian Policy had been abandoned, resulting in a constant migration flow of Syrians to Australia. This encouraged more Australian born Syrians, with 6,710 by 2001.

Under the White Australia policy, Syrian communities in Australia were distinctively labelled and on clear display as a minority group. The 1901 Immigration Restriction Act caused the number of Syrian Australians to drop by over half, especially due to the inability for most Syrians being unable to afford the airfare to Australia. At the beginning of the White Australia Policy, Syrians were associated with the "Asiatic" race, until in 1909 both Syrian and Lebanese communities argued they were a part of the Caucasian European race. Unlike many other nations, the gender split between men and women in the Syrian immigrant community was almost equal, with women accounting for more than 50 percent of the population. This equal gender split was one of the main differentiations between Syrian immigrants and other immigrant communities. The White Australian Policy further impacted the socio-economic background of Syrian immigrants, both at the time and for future immigrants.

In 2016, the Australian Government published over $220 million will be spent as a response to the Syrian refugee crisis. This was further increased by $29 million through the 2019–2020 financial year. This money was spent on a variety of humanitarian assistance. This includes education improvement, long-term resilience training for Jordan refugees as well as an increased opportunity for improved workplace livelihood.