List of Asian Australian politicians

Census definition

Information relating to the racial composition of the population was collected for the first time at the Census of 1911. The following were classified as "Asiatic":^[8]

At censuses prior to 1966 the instructions relating to race were insufficient to enable respondents to classify themselves according to the degree of racial mixture. As one report for the 1966 Census of Population and Housing details:^[9]

For example, from 1933 to 1961 persons were asked the following question:

"For persons of European race, wherever born, write "European ". For non-Europeans state the race to which they belong, for example, "Aboriginal", "Chinese", "Negro", "Afghan", etc. If the person is half-caste with one parent of European race, write also "H.C.", for example "H.C. Aboriginal", "H. C. Chinese", etc."

At the 1966 Census the instructions were re-designed ... in an endeavour to obtain precise data on racial mixture and also to avoid the opprobrium attaching to the term "half-caste" ...

The Australian Bureau of Statistics and Australian Census no longer collect data on race as a standalone category. Instead, they collect information on distinct ancestries, of which census respondents can select up to two. The ABS has classified certain ancestries into categories for the purposes of aggregating data, including:^[10]

• North-East Asian (including Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, etc.);
• South-East Asian (including Vietnamese, Filipinos, Indonesians, etc.); and
• Southern and Central Asian (including Indians, Sri Lankans, Afghans, Azerbaijani etc.).

Ancestry is the primary statistical measure of ethnicity or cultural origins in Australia. The different ancestry groups may have distinct histories, cultures, and geographical origins. Therefore, information on Australians with ancestry from Asia can be found in the respective articles for each separate article (e.g., Chinese Australians, Indian Australians, etc.).

Australians of Middle Eastern ancestries are not classified as part of the Asian category under the ABS's Australian Standard Classification of Cultural and Ethnic Groups (ASCCEG).^[10] Instead, they are separately classified under North African and Middle Eastern. This includes Australians of Arab, Turkish and Iranian ancestries. However, Armenians, for example, are classified as Central Asian and therefore part of the Asian category.^[11]