Case study of the Iranian

Community
in the City of Parramatta
By
Sher Bindahnee

Australia's Changing Communities

INTRODUCTION
Iranian Australians are people of Iranian heritage residing in Australia. Large concentrations of
Iranian Australians live in the state of New South Wales, particularly around Sydney, Newcastle,
and Wollongong. There are also large concentrations in Melbourne. An area which is more widely
populated by Iranian Australians is the City of Parramatta, an LGA (Local Government Area)
located in Sydney's western suburbs about 24 kilometres from the Sydney GPO, in which residents
with Iranian ancestry comprised of the 16th largest ancestry 0.8% of the population. The City of
Parramatta is bounded by The Hills Shire and Hornsby Shire in the north, the City of Ryde in the
east, Auburn City, Bankstown City and Fairfield City in the south and Holroyd City and Blacktown
City in the west. It is difficult to trace the immigration to Australia from the region designated by
the modern world as the Middle East or traditionally, as Asia Minor, because of the way in which
immigration officials on both sides have kept records. The first wave of immigration from Iran to
Australia, from 1950-1977, was relatively insignificant in terms of the number of immigrants.
Annually, only a few hundred entered Australia as immigrants during this period, with most
migrants being service workers, particularly in the oil industry; along with a few thousand nonimmigrants, including students and visitors. The vast majority of Iran's emigrants left their
homeland just after the 1979 revolution, and it precipitated a large increase in the number of
Iranians settling in western Sydney regions, including Hornsby Shire, Fairfield City and the City of
Parramatta. From the period 1980-1988, there was a strong trend of emigration to NSW due to the
ongoing Iran-Iraq war, which came about after Saddam Hussein's regime invaded Iran in 1980,
sparking an 8 year long war. The 2011 Census reported 15,463 Iran-born people living in NSW, a
55.8% increase compared to the 2006 Census. Differences noted in the Census between the City of
Parramatta and Greater Sydney included a larger percentage of people with Iranian ancestry (2.6%
compared to 0.3%). During the period 2001-06, Parramatta LGA ranked 5th in a Census table which
displayed results for 'Top 10 Humanitarian Arrivals in Local Government Areas', another reason for
Iranians migrating to the area and surrounding LGAs.

DEMOGRAPHICS City of Parramatta

The Census population of the City of Parramatta as recorded in 2011 showed figures up to 166,856.
A more recent estimated resident population of the City of Parramatta in 2012 reports 178,549
residing within the LGA, an estimated increase of 7.01% in population between the two years. The
Parramatta LGA, with a total land area of 6138 hectares, also has a population density of 29.09
persons per hectare, and an approximate of 2.74 individuals in every household.
The 2011 Census recorded the number of males and females residing in the Parramatta LGA, with
83,563 males and 83,293 females. Males accounted for 50.1% of the population, however females
were slightly lower with a percentage of 49.9%. The highest age groups fell under the 25-29 age
categories for both males and females, representing the young workforce. However, the lowest age
group comprised of the elderly aged, of which the population fell under 95-99 and above. The
highest single year of age for males and females was 28 years old, accounting for 2.24% and 2.22%
of the population respectively. For males, zero percent of the population was recorded for the ages
of 98 years, 100 years and over. For females, the lowest percentage age group was displayed for 100
and over years (0.01%). The following age and sex pyramid shows the population profile of the
City of Parramatta.

The shape of the above population profile depicts a fairly young population, with an abundance of
the population falling in the service categories of tertiary education and independence, young
workforce, and parents and homebuilders. The population profile also denotes that a lesser portion
of the Parramatta LGA population are considered dependent.
The median age of the population in the City of Parramatta is 33; a younger age in comparison to
the median age of Greater Sydney (36).
The City of Parramatta is culturally diverse, catering for a population of many ethnic backgrounds.
Below is a graph denoting the ten most common ancestries as stated in the 2011 Census.

The graph above portrays that the three largest ancestries in the City of Parramatta are Australian,
English and Chinese. It also shows a large contrast between the range of ethnicities in Greater
Sydney and the City of Parramatta. A notable difference is the increased proportion of the
population of Greater Sydney being Australian, English Scottish, Irish and Italian, and fewer from
other Asian ethnicities, in comparison to the City of Parramatta. There is also a fair variation
between the ancestries which is not extreme, possibly demonstrating a greater sense of
multiculturalism.

Languages spoken at home also present a wide variety. The percentage of people those who speak
in English make up 43.4% of the Parramatta LGA population, however languages other than
English spoken at home amount to 50.2% of the population (and 6.4% of population not stated).
The following bar graph shows the top 10 languages spoken at home excluding English.

More than 10% of the Parramatta LGA population speaks Arabic, while the next largest languages
spoken at home include Mandarin and Cantonese, both of which are Chinese languages. Most of
these languages, being from non-European backgrounds, can relate to the Ancestry graph as Greater
Sydney again seems to have a lesser percentage of Asian language speakers.
The City of Parramatta population is religiously diverse. Religion statistics reveal the major
concentrations of religions as well as revealing the proportion of people with no religious
affiliations, with country of birth, ethnic background, age and varying values and belief systems
contributing to . One can draw interesting conclusions from the 2011 Census, such as the fact that in
the City of Parramatta, the number of non Christians (especially Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism)
experienced the greatest change (+13,434) compared to the non religious and Christians.
Below is a graph showing the different religions found in the Parramatta LGA and their percentages
of the population.

The top three religion responses in the City of Parramatta include Roman Catholic, Anglican and
Islam, however a significantly larger percentage of the Anglican and Roman Catholic
denominations can be found in Greater Sydney.
The City of Parramatta's employment statistics are an important indicator of socio-economic status,
indicating the strength of the local economy and social characteristics of the population. 74,144
people living in the City of Parramatta are employed, of which 62.6% are working full-time and
28.1% are working part-time. The unemployed labour force account for 7% of the population.
Below is a graph showing the employment status of the 15 years and over labour force.

The occupation statistics in the City of Parramatta quantify the occupations in which the residents
work, which would be influenced by the economic base and employment opportunities in the area,
education levels and working and social aspirations. The following pie graph demonstrates the
various employment types and their proportions in the Parramatta LGA.

The graph showed that there are more professionals in the City of Parramatta than any other
occupation. The second largest sector of the graph portrayed 17.3% of the employed population
working as Clerical and Administrative Workers. Technicians, trades workers and managers were
the next most common types of employment.
Individual income of people residing in the Parramatta LGA. In the City of Parramatta, the highest
number of the population 15 years and above does not earn any income, amounting for 11.1% of
the population. Meanwhile, a further 10.3% earns an income which falls in the $400-$599 category.
Analysis of individual income levels in the City of Parramatta in 2011 compared to Greater Sydney
shows that there was a lower proportion of persons earning a high income (those earning $1,500 per
week or more) and a higher proportion of low income persons (those earning less than $400 per
week). Overall, 11.0% of the population earned a high income, and 38.2% earned a low income,
compared with 15.3% and 34.8% respectively for Greater Sydney.

Marital status of the City of Parramatta. For people aged 15 years or over, 52.3% were married and
9.9% of people were either divorced or separated. A further 44,259 members of the population
(32.7%) had never married, while 5.1% of people residing in the Parramatta LGA had been
widowed.
In conjunction with other socio-economic status indicators in the City of Parramatta, housing tenure
data is useful for analysing housing markets, housing affordability and identifying public housing
areas. In the City of Parramatta, most of the population are renting their properties (37.7%). The
next most prominent housing type amounting for 30.4% of the Parramatta LGA population is a
home which has been purchased with a mortgage. Fully owned homes represent the residences of
23.9% of the population.

IRANIAN IDENTITY - CITY OF PARRAMATTA

A number of factors contribute to the sense of identity of Iranians living in the City of Parramatta.
These include religion, culture, traditions, language, food, architecture, clothing and celebrations, to
mention but a few. These factors contributing to the Iranian sense of community in Parramatta are
further elaborated throughout the course of the community analysis.

Religion is a very influencing factor for many Iranian individuals in the City of Parramatta. The
religious affiliation of Iranians in the Parramatta LGA is as follows, with the greatest proportion
being Muslim, mainly Shi'a, at 32%, while the Baha'is at 24% represent the second largest group
and the other minorities including Christian denominations amount to 12.5% of the Sydney Iranian
community. The City of Parramatta offers specialised services catering for religious minorities in
the Iranian community. A notable service provided for Iranian Christians is St John's Anglican
Cathedral, situated in Parramatta.