| Group: | Zimbabwean Australians |
| Total: | 65,000 |
| Popplace: | Perth |
| Related: | African Australians |
Zimbabwean Australians are Australian citizens who are fully or partially of Zimbabwean descent or Zimbabwe-born people who reside in Australia. They include migrants to Australia of people from Zimbabwe (Rhodesia or Southern Rhodesia until 1980), as well as their descendants. Today, there are over 65,000 Zimbabwean Australians, with significant growth since 2000, coinciding with the sociopolitical crisis there.[1]
Australia's Zimbabwean community is now well established, with some of the highest incomes in the country,[2] as well as with community institutions such as Zimbabwean language schools.[3]
Much like South Africans, Zimbabweans began immigrating to Australia in the late 1970s, in modest numbers of mostly white Zimbabweans until the late nineties. Since 2000, the volume of migration has increased and diversified significantly, with a mix of professionals, investors, students and recent graduates choosing to move to Australia. Compared to their contemporaries in South Africa, the Zimbabwean community in Australia is highly educated and firmly within the middle class.[4] The vast majority are skilled and educated, with 74.5% of the Zimbabwe-born aged 15 years and over possessing higher non-school qualifications, compared to 55.9% of the Australian population.[4] Some Zimbabweans had originally moved to South Africa or the UK, but decided to settle in Australia instead.[5]
Zimbabweans form a significant community in Australia with their numbers having grown to over 34,787 Zimbabwe-born as of 2018. When including their Australian and foreign born members, the government estimates at least 80,000 people being equally divided between black and white Zimbabweans[6] [7] The community is now well established, with some of the highest incomes in the country,[8] as well as with community institutions such as Zimbabwean language schools.[9] One in three of Australia's Shona and Ndebele-speakers live in Sydney with other concentrations of Zimbabweans in Perth, Melbourne and Queensland. Indeed, some 78 per cent of Zimbabwean Aussie adults hold a tertiary degree, making them the best educated group in the country[6] [10] [11]
Along with their fellow South African immigrants, the Zimbabwean Australian community has become something of an invisible model minority in Australia, in part because they are represented as having a high degree of integration within the Australian society as well as economic and academic success.[12] Furthermore, Zimbabweans in Australia on average have a high level of education attainment, as well as higher than average incomes, which can be partially attributed to Zimbabwe's high education rates as well as the growing popularity of Australian universities as an affordable alternative for foreign students.[12]
Unlike their counterparts from Asia, they have not formed distinct enclaves within the major cities of Australia and the degree of assimilation is higher than most recent migrants to Australia, due to better cultural, historical, and linguistic similarities with Australia. Despite this, the community is still strongly attached to its homeland while being increasing integrated into Australian society, with many travelling back and forth.[12]
Australia's Zimbabwean population is biggest in Sydney. Historically, Perth was a popular first stop for recent migrants, thanks to its relative proximity to Southern Africa and its already established South African Australian population but increasingly, modern immigrants are drawn to Sydney and Melbourne[13] although a large proportion of Zimbabweans in Australia still reside in Western Australia.[4] Many white Zimbabweans have settled in Queensland,[14] whereas people of indigenous Shona and Ndebele ethnicities commonly settle in Sydney or Melbourne.[4]
Australians who speak a language indigenous to Zimbabwe at home are most numerous in Sydney. One in three of Australia's Ndebele-speakers and one in three of Australia's Shona-speakers live in Sydney.[15] [16]
English, Shona and Afrikaans are the main languages Zimbabwean Australians in Victoria speak at home. 53% of Zimbabwean Australians in Victoria speak English, while 36% speak Shona and 1% speak Afrikaans.[17]