Somali Australians

[3] Somali Australians are active in the nation's cultural and political scenes, having also contributed significantly to local business.

[4] According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the 2006 national census counted 6,403 Somali immigrants residing in Australia.

[4] Somalis are especially well represented in Victoria, having been drawn to the region's Muslim community, job opportunities and reputation for cultural diversity.

[6] Due to many ethnic Somalis in the diaspora originating in surrounding countries such as Kenya, a more accurate way of determining statistics is based on the "ancestry" data collected in the census.

Most Somali men have found jobs in the transport and production industries, and a rising number of women in the community do clerical work.

During the 2006 Ethiopian Invasion of Somalia, The Australian Federal Police began to investigate possible links between Islamist splinter groups such as Hizbul Islam and Al Shabaab to the Somali community in Melbourne.

The AFP had concluded that around 20 Australians had joined the ranks of numerous jihadist factions in Somalia, with some of these men including the perpetrators of the Holsworthy Barracks Plot.