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FACT SHEET: Muslim & Arab Australians in Queensland

1. Muslim Australians

*Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2001 Census.

Figure 1: Australian Muslim population by state and territory
Figure 1: Australian Muslim population by state and territory. Click here to text version.

Source: ABS, 2001 Census. Basic Community Snapshots and Profiles.
Click here for text only version.

Table 1: Geographic Distribution of Muslims in Australia, 2001
State/territory
Proportion of all Australian Muslims
Proportion of total state or territory population
New South Wales 50% 2.2%
Victoria 33% 2.0%
Western Australia 7% 1.1%
Queensland 5% 0.4%
South Australia 3% 0.5%
Australian Capital Territory 1% 1.1%
Northern Territory 0.3% 0.5%
Tasmania 0.3% 0.2%
Total
100%
1.5%

Source: ABS, 2001 Census.

Table 2: Distribution of Australian Muslims by major statistical local areas in Brisbane statistical division, 2001
Statistical local area Number
Runcorn 388
Eight Mile Plains 347
Woodridge 312
Kuraby 276
St Lucia 231
Holland Park 226
Sunnybank Hills 220
Mount Gravatt East 209
Greenslopes 207
Coorparoo 203
Annerley 200
Ipswich (C) - East 188
Kingston 176
Calamvale 167
Browns Plains 167
Doolandella-Forest Lake 165
Capalaba 160
Acacia Ridge 149
Mansfield 144
Stretton-Karawatha 139
West End 134
Wishart 134
Marsden 133
Upper Mount Gravatt 118
Slacks Creek 115
Alexandra Hills 113
Carindale 112
Rochedale South 99
Toowong 98
Moorooka 96
Woolloongabba 93
Ipswich (C) - Central 92
Algester 91
Loganholme 90
Indooroopilly 89
Seventeen Mile Rocks 89
Taringa 89
Inala 88
Underwood 88
Loganlea 85
Sunnybank 84
Robertson 82
Other SLAs 3,977
Total Brisbane SD 10,463

2. Arab & Middle-Eastern Australians

*Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2001 Census.

Definitions

Defining who is an ‘Arab’ or exactly which countries lie within the Middle East is a complex matter.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines the Middle East as: Bahrain, Gaza Strip and West Bank (Palestine), Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen. North Africa is defined as: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and the Western Sahara. ‘Arab’ includes: Algerian, Egyptian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Kuwaiti, Lebanese, Libyan, Moroccan, Palestinian, Saudi Arabian, Syrian, Tunisian.

This summary uses ABS definitions and highlights specific countries of origin for a significant number of Australians. These countries are: Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Israel. Other Middle Eastern, North African and Arab countries with much smaller representation in Australian are grouped into two categories:

Table 3: Main countries of birth of Australians of Middle Eastern & North African origin, 2001
Country of birth
Number
Lebanon 71 349
Egypt 33 432
Turkey 29 821
Iraq 24 832
Iran 18 789
Syria 6 710
Israel 6 574
Other Middle East 13 212
Other North Africa 8 918
Other not further defined 303
Total
213 940

Source: ABS, 2001 Census, Unpublished data.

Figure 2: State & territory distribution of Australians born in the Middle East & North Africa, 2001
Figure 1: State & territory distribution of Australians born in the Middle East & North Africa, 2001 . Click here to access text version.

Source: ABS, 2001 Census. Basic Community Profiles and Snapshots.
Click here for text only version.

Table 4: Australians born in the Middle East or North Africa in major statistical local areas of Brisbane, 2001
Statistical Local Area
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Lebanon
Syria
Turkey
Other Middle East
Other North Africa
Total
Woodridge
15
0
48
55
6
3
7
27
161
Annerley
7
10
13
9
0
5
10
39
93
Sunnybank Hills
25
13
4
11
4
6
13
10
86
Greenslopes
3
10
51
3
0
4
5
8
84
Kuraby
4
3
23
10
3
0
17
21
81
Mansfield
11
14
0
23
6
8
10
6
78
West End
22
6
4
4
5
6
11
18
76
Capalaba
16
7
0
6
0
40
0
3
72
Wishart
14
13
0
16
4
10
9
3
69
Coorparoo
17
7
5
13
0
5
4
15
66
Highgate Hill
16
7
12
7
0
9
6
7
64
Carindale
10
9
4
22
4
4
7
3
63
Holland Park
6
9
7
10
3
3
13
12
63
Rochedale South
25
3
0
17
0
4
3
4
56
Mount Gravatt East
12
0
7
11
4
0
12
9
55
Doolandella-Forest Lake
0
36
3
3
0
5
7
0
54
Ipswich (C) - Central
6
13
4
3
0
15
3
9
53
Yeronga
0
12
10
0
0
3
0
27
52
Calamvale
26
9
0
7
0
5
0
4
51
Runcorn
11
3
10
9
3
7
8
0
51
Slacks Creek
14
0
0
17
0
9
10
0
50
Seventeen Mile Rocks
5
16
3
12
3
0
6
3
48
Alexandra Hills
4
9
0
11
4
17
3
0
48
Browns Plains
6
8
0
7
10
5
6
4
46
Ipswich (C) - East
7
4
7
6
0
13
3
5
45
Robertson
7
3
0
3
0
7
18
6
44
Albany Creek
6
3
5
8
0
3
5
14
44
Moorooka
3
3
8
3
0
4
0
22
43
Aspley
4
5
0
5
0
4
8
16
42
Middle Park
5
3
9
9
8
5
3
0
42
Chapel Hill
7
20
0
3
0
7
4
0
41
Stretton-Karawatha
4
8
0
12
4
7
6
0
41
Indooroopilly
3
22
4
3
0
0
8
0
40
Kangaroo Point
5
15
3
5
0
6
3
3
40
Toowong
4
7
3
3
0
3
17
3
40
Other SLAs
438
469
207
470
79
221
276
295
2455
Total for Brisbane SD
768
779
454
816
150
453
521
596
4537

*Source: ABS, 2001 Census, Unpublished data

Race Discrimination Unit, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, July 2003. ABS data used with permission from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.