South African Australians ( af, Suid-Afrikaanse Australiërs) are citizens or residents of Australia who are of South African descent. According to the 2016 Australian census, 162,450 Australian residents were born in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, making up 0.7% of the country's population, while 118,960 residents claimed "South African" ancestry, and another 4,865 stated their ancestry as " Afrikaner". Most South African-born Australians are native English-speakers (118,147) while a large minority speak

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

at home (38,415). Afrikaners are particularly concentrated in greater Perth. While just 0.2% of Australian residents in 2016 spoke Afrikaans at home, 0.6% of the residents of greater Perth (11,393) did. While 24% of South Africa-born Australians are Afrikaans speakers, census figures suggest that over one-third of South African Australians living in Western Australia are. Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Inner Sydney by POA - BCP field 1198 South African Total Responses

Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Inner Sydney by POA - BCP field 1198 South African Total Responses

Immigration from South Africa to Australia, particularly by professionals, accelerated in the 1990s. More than half of the South African Australians arrived following the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994. A behaviour stigmatised by

white South African White South Africans generally refers to South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original settler ...

s who remained in their homeland as "Packing for Perth" ("PFP") was also a humorous dig and reference to supporters of the

Progressive Federal Party The Progressive Federal Party (PFP) ( af, Progressiewe Federale Party) was a South African political party formed in 1977 through merger of the Progressive and Reform parties, eventually changing its name to the Progressive Federal Party. For it ...

– a political party formed in 1977 that drew support mainly from liberal English-speaking white people. In 2007–2008, around 4,000 South Africans permanently settled in Australia, a slightly lower number than previous years.

Notable people

* Joany Badenhorst (Paralympic snowboarder) *

Wendy Botha Wendy Botha (born 22 August 1965) is a four-time world surfing champion. She won her first title as a South African citizen in 1987, then she became an Australian citizen and won three more titles in 1989, 1991, and 1992. She also posed nude f ...

(pro surfer) *

Robin Bell Robin Bell (born 16 November 1977 in Cape Town) is a South African-born, Australian slalom canoeist who competed from the late 1990s to the late 2000s. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the C1 event in Beijing in ...

(athlete) *

Scherri-Lee Biggs Scherri-Lee Biggs is a South African-Australian TV host, dancer, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Australia 2011 and represented Australia at Miss Universe 2011 and placed Top 10. Biggs currently presents th ...

(Miss Universe Australia 2011) *

Lauren Brant Lauren Marie Brant-Hall (born 24 February 1989) is a South African-Australian television personality and actress. Brant is a former member of the Australian children's musical group Hi-5. Early life Brant was born in South Africa and moved with ...

(former Hi-5 member) *

Kearyn Baccus Kearyn Byron Baccus (born 5 September 1991) is a footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Macarthur FC in the A-League Men. Born in South Africa, he is a youth international for Australia. Club career Baccus joined Sydney FC's youth s ...

(soccer player) *

Gavin Buckley Gavin Buckley (born 8 February 1963) is a South African-born Australian-American politician and former restaurateur who has been the mayor of Annapolis, Maryland since 2017. Born in South Africa and raised primarily in Perth, Western Australia ...

(current mayor of Annapolis, Maryland) *

J. M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African–Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is one of the most critically acclaimed and decorated authors in ...

(writer, 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate) * Bryce Courtenay (writer) *

Michelle Cowan Michelle Cowan (born 1982) is an Australian rules football coach who was the inaugural head coach of the Fremantle Football Club in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW). Early life Cowan lived in Durban, South Africa, before moving to Kambalda ...

(AFL / AFLW Coach) *

Collette Dinnigan Collette Mary Ann Dinnigan (born 24 September 1965) is an Australian based fashion designer. Born in South Africa, Dinnigan moved to New Zealand, then Australia, where she obtained work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She opened ...

(fashion designer) *

Ceridwen Dovey Ceridwen Dovey (born 1980) is a South African and Australian social anthropologist and author. In 2009 she was named a 5 under 35 nominee by the National Book Foundation and in 2020 won The Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing. Early year ...

(writer) *

Anton Enus Anton Albert Enus is a South African-born Australian news presenter. He is currently co-host of '' SBS World News'' on Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). Career Enus presented ''SBS World News Australia'' late edition, which aired on weeknigh ...

(SBS newsreader) * Damian Cupido (Australian rules football player) *

Dane Haylett-Petty Dane Haylett-Petty (born 18 June 1989) is a retired Australian rugby union footballer who played as a fullback or wing for the Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby and the Wallabies. Early life Haylett-Petty was born in Durban in the former Pro ...

(rugby union football player) *

Dean Geyer Dean Stanley Geyer (born 20 March 1986) is a South African Australian singer-songwriter, actor and martial artist who finished third in the 2006 season of the talent show television series ''Australian Idol'', and has had a notable role in the ...

(singer, and actor) *

David Gonski David Michael Gonski (born 7 October 1953) is an Australian public figure and businessman. In 2008, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' described Gonski as "one of the country's best-connected businessmen" and dubbed him "Mr Networks" for being "a ...

(chair, Australian Stock Exchange) * Frances Hargreaves (actress) * Cariba Heine (actress) * Robert Holmes à Court (1937-1990) (businessman, Australia's richest person) * Jason Johannisen (Australian Rules football player) *

Craig Johnston Craig Peter Johnston (born 25 June 1960) is a South African-born Australian former professional footballer. He played as a midfielder in the English Football League between 1977 and 1988, winning the European Cup, five league titles and an FA Cu ...

(soccer player) *

Dena Kaplan Dena Amy Kaplan (born 20 January 1989) is a South African-born Australian actress, singer, dancer, and DJ. She is best known for her role as Abigail Armstrong in ''Dance Academy''. Life and career Kaplan was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. ...

(actress) *

Gail Kelly Gail Kelly (née Currer) (born 25 April 1956) is a South African-born Australian businesswoman. In 2002, she became the first female CEO of a major Australian bank or top 15 company and in 2005 was the highest paid woman in an Australian corpora ...

(CEO, Westpac) * Marius Kloppers (CEO, BHP) *

Marnus Labuschagne Marnus Labuschagne ( or ; born 22 June 1994) is a South African born, Australian international cricketer who plays for the Australian cricket team in Tests and ODIs as a batter. He plays domestically for Queensland in Australian domestic c ...

(Australian Test cricketer) *

Jessica Marais Jessica Dominique Marais (born 29 January 1985) is a South African-born Australian actress best known for her roles on Australian television in '' Packed to the Rafters'' and '' Love Child''. She also co-starred on the American drama series '' ...

(actress) * Sisonke Msimang (writer) * Kerr Neilson (fund manager) * Paul O'Brien (actor) *

Craig Reucassel Craig Bruce Reucassel is an Australian television and radio comedian. He is best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser. He hosted the Australian version of ''Balls of Steel'', which premiered in April 2011. Since 2013, Reucassel ...

(comedian) *

Lovemore N'dou Lovemore Ndou (born 16 August 1971) is a South African Australian, South African-Australian solicitor and former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2012. He held the International Boxing Federation, IBF junior-welterweight title in ...

(boxer) * Clyde Rathbone (rugby player) * Selwyn (R&B singer) *

Troye Sivan Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter, actor and YouTuber. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with EMI Australia in 2013 and released his thi ...

(actor and singer-songwriter) *

Tammin Sursok Tammin Sursok (born 19 August 1983) is a South African-born Australian actress and singer. She is known for her roles on television as Dani Sutherland on '' Home and Away'', Colleen Carlton on ''The Young and the Restless'', and Jenna Marsha ...

(actress) * Daniel Vickerman (rugby player) *

Margaret Wild Margaret Wild (born 1948) is an Australian children's writer. She has written more than 40 books for children. Her work has been published around the world and has won several awards. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Childre ...

(writer) *

Nathaniel Willemse Nate Gilbertson (born 14 July 1985), often known simply as Nathaniel, is a South African-born Australian singer and songwriter most notable for finishing sixth on the fourth season of ''The X Factor Australia''. In 2013, he signed a recording co ...

(singer) * Young Pluto (boxer) *

Morné Morkel Morné Morkel (born 6 October 1984) is a South African former cricketer who played international cricket between 2006 and 2018. He is a right-arm fast bowler and lower order left-handed batsman. Morkel made his Test match debut in 2006 and w ...

(Former South Africa International Cricketer)

References

{{Ethnic groups in Australia African Australian Ethnic groups in Australia *

Notable people

See also

References