The report entitled ‘Economic potential and impact of Sikhs’ highlights the productive impact the Sikhs have made to the Australian economy, and how it has grown over the years.
Sikhs are making Australia wealthier, according to a study conducted by Sikh Youth Australia and Young Sikh Professionals Network (YSPN), an organisation focused on empowering Sikh youth to “succeed and amplify their influence” in Australia.
The report entitled ‘Economic potential and impact of Sikhs’ claims that Sikh migrants made a net contribution of $8.1 billion to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2016.
The findings of the report are predominantly based on Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) data from 2006 and the census output in 2016. Karan Anand, inaugural Chair, Young Sikh Professionals Network (YSPN), Australia.
Karan Anand, the inaugural Chair of YSPN, outlined the basis of the report in an interview with SBS Punjabi.
“We knew how many Sikhs are there in each industry and the average economic contribution per worker in each industry and we multiplied the two,” explained Mr Anand.
The study further claims that the financial contribution of the Sikhs has grown exponentially from $1.1 billion in 2006 to $8.1 billion in 2016. The significant growth has been largely attributed to the influx of migrants that have settled in the country during these ten years (2006-16).
“In all, the average economic contribution of Sikhs to the economy has grown at 22% annually, while the average population growth stands at 17%, which means that most of the economic contribution can be attributed to the growth of the Sikh population in Australia,” said Mr Anand.
“And the remaining 5% of growth has occurred because of the increase in productivity which means that more Sikhs are now working in higher paying jobs.” A snapshot from YSPN's report on economic contribution of Sikhs to the Australian economy
Sikhs first came to Australia in the 1830s and there are an estimated 126,000 Sikhs living in Australia today, according to ABS.
Since the early days, Sikhs have known to be taking employment wherever they could find a vacancy. According to the latest census, a large proportion drive cabs and trucks, work as cooks, nurses, or aged and disability care workers. Many are self-employed too.
"Given that the population is growing rapidly, it is expected that the contribution of Sikhs to the Australian economy is likely to grow in the coming years," said Mr Anand.
“Along with the continued population growth, the fact that migrants who are now settled here are placing emphasis on their children’s education who’ll grow up to get gainful employment, is bound to change things. And that prospect is quite exciting,” he added. Sikhism is now the fifth largest religion in Australia
It is official. The Census 2016 data revealed by Australian Bureau of Statistics this week has confirmed that with nearly 126,000 followers in Australia, Sikhism is now the fifth largest religion of the country, after Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism.
Punjabi is among the top ten languages spoken at home
Census data 2016 reveals that Punjabi is among the top ten languages spoken at home in Australia.
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