WHO WE ARE

Over the past 20 years, a number of Indian organisations have come into existence in New South Wales, Australia. Many of these organisations have been either regional Associations (based on languages of India) or religion-based Associations. Some business associations have also been formed. There have been some which have claimed to be “Umbrella Institutions” (social as well as religious) but have not delivered.

​While these Associations have served some purpose of fulfilling individual aspirations of people running these Associations, and some have genuinely assisted in promoting the Indian culture in various forms, most of these bodies have not been sufficiently effective in addressing the key issues faced by the Indian Australian community in Australia. As a result, many of the organisations and their leaders are not accepted as the ones focussed on genuine community work or capable of leading our community.

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The Indian Australian community itself has undergone tremendous changes over the past decade. With the vast influx of students, and substantial increase in the number of new Indian migrants, the issues faced by the community have increased manifold. Some of the glaring examples of these issues faced by or relevant to the Indian community include:

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• Integration of Indian migrants in the Australian society

• Students and Visa Issues

• Domestic violence

• Employment issues

• Lack of influence in the Australian Political system

• Lack of representation on Indian Australians in Australian media

• Australia-India relations and relevant issues

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With the growth of Indian community in Australia, the aspirations of people of Indian Australian community have substantially increased, but these aspirations have not been realised. Only few Indian Australians are working as a councillor in the local government presently. There are hardly anyone representing in either a State or Federal Parliament. With the current state of our community leadership, it is not likely that it will change in the foreseeable future. Many believe that this situation is hindering the growth of Indian Australian community and is largely due to our ineffective community leadership.

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The Council of Indian Australians is a new not for profit organisation which was inaugurated on January 28th, 2011 at the Australia Day/Indian Republic Day function in Blacktown, NSW. It aims to work as a genuine representative body with clean governance, transparency, accountability, and high moral and ethical standards in day-to-day functioning.  In short, primary objective is promoting Indian cultural heritage, friendship, and integration within multicultural Australia.

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The Council of Indian Australians Inc intends to achieve its objectives by working closely with the local community in NSW.

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The Council of Indian Australians (CIA) is a secular organisation and is also not aligned with any political party. Its members and leaders are entitled to have their political views. They can take part in the political processes on individual basis.

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Members and leaders belonging to Council of Indian Australians have been actively involved in community work for years and have achieved some significant results for the community in short span of time. They strongly believe in outcome-focused approach. Their focussed work has given them significant credibility in the community as well as in Australian national media, which routinely seeks their views on issues related to Indian Australian community and Australia India relations.

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Council of Indian Australians believes in integration and participation of Indian Australians in the general Australian community. They are strong believers and supporters of multiculturalism and multicultural Australia.

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