Australia’s Indian diaspora wants more political representation, but is there a glass ceiling?

In 2021, the 64-year-old co-founded an advocacy group that worked with political leaders to resolve issues related to migrant rights, racism, multiculturalism, and religious extremism. A year later, he contested the Warrandyte seat in the Victoria state election on a Greens party ticket, finishing third.

“I am deeply involved in issues that are relevant not only for the diaspora but also for non-Indian migrant communities,” Joshi, who has been living in Australia since 1997, told This Week In Asia.

Despite individual efforts like Joshi’s to bridge communities and advocate for immigrants’ rights, a recent Victoria State survey revealed significant under-representation of the Indian diaspora in Australian politics and leadership roles.

This gap, underscored by the survey’s findings that most of the state’s residents are unaware of Indian leaders in these spheres, points to systemic challenges and a pressing need for more inclusive representation in a country where Indians form the second-largest migrant group.

The survey results, published last month, show that 81 per cent of 2,532 Victorian respondents were not aware of the Indian diaspora in leadership roles in politics or business, and more than 80 per cent did not know or did not believe there was sufficient representation of Indian-Australians in leadership roles.

Surjeet Dogra Dhanji, a postdoctoral fellow studying the Indian diaspora and migration at Melbourne University, says while many Australians of Indian origin are highly educated, earn “relatively high incomes”, speak fluent English and have a “good understanding of democratic political processes”, very few have made inroads into the Australian legislative institutions.

“It’s not the case with other countries