Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

96 Shival’ari

CambodianBuddhist

community

inAustralia

Studiesintothehistorical

development

ofBuddhisminAustraliahaveidentified

thearrivalofAsianBuddhist

migrants

andlndochinese

refugees

asamilestone

in the

process

(Croucher 1989;

Spuler

2000).

Thean'ivalof

large

numberof

BuddhistsfromAsiawas

partly

duetotheendofthe‘WhiteAustralia

Policy'

in

1973.

aswell

as

thearrival

oflndochinese

refugees

from

Cambodia,

Laosand

Vietnam.

Thisnot

only

increasedthenumberof

Buddhists,

butitalsoalteredthe

ethno-eultural

makeup

ofBuddhisminAustraliaAssoonasmembersofthese

communitieshadthe

resources.

they

establishedBuddhist

temples

that

genernlh

catered

forboththeir

culturaland

religious

needs.These

templesgrew

andwere

furtherconsolidatedwiththe

arrivalofmonksandnunsfromtheirhomelands.

Thenumberand

characteristicsofCambodiansinAustraliahas

changed

with

thearrivalofsuccessive

wavesunderdifferent

migration

programs.

Thereare

threebroad

stages

of

Cambodian

migration

toAustralia.Thesethreewavescorre-

spond

toeventsinCambodia

andinternationalandnationalfactors

influencing

resettlement

policies.

The

firstwave followed

Cambodia’s

independence

from

Frenchrulein1953.

Following

this,

Cambodian

studentsarrived

inAustraliain

smallnumbers.Fromthelate

19605 and

throughout

the

early

19705.

largergroups

ofstudentsarrivedunderthe

auspices

ofthe

CommonwealthColombo

Plan.

By

June 1976 theCambodian

community

inAustralia

numbered496.

Thesecondwavearn'vedunder

the

Refugee

and

Special

Humanitarian

Program.

1n

the

perrod

1975446 Australia

admitted

12.922

Cambodiansor 6

per

centofthe

total

global

intake

ofCambodian

refugees.By

the

timetheKhmer

Rouge

was

overthrown.rn

January

1979.

over

1.5millionor

21

per

centof

the

population

in Cambodra had

been murdered

or had died

from starvation

and

disease,

hundreds

of

thousandswere

internallydisplaced

andover

200,000refitgees

fled

to

camps

in

Laos,

Thailandand

Vietnam.The

majority

ofthesehad

lost

family

members

through

deathor

separation.

experienced

prolongedpolitical.

SUCiaL

economic

upheavals

and

had

witnessedthe

severe

disruption

ofthe

normalstruc-

luresoftheirtraditional

lives,

leading

tothe

generalcollapse

of

their

society.

The

largest

numberof

Cambodian

refugees,

3996

people(25per

centoftotal

Cambodian
refugees

admittedto

Australia),

arrivedin1983.

Following

this.

there

wasa
steady

declinein

thenumber

of

Cambodians

arriving

inAustralia

underthe

Refugee

and

Special

Humanitarian

Program.

Between 1989 and 1991

only

315

asylum

seekers

arrivedin

Australia

from

Cambodia.

The-third

wave

consistedalmost

entirely

ofthose

entering

under

the

Family

Migration

stream. ofthe

1141

Cambodianswho

an-ived in

Vrctoria

between

1996-2004. 80

percent

came

under

the

FamilyMigrationstream,

8

per

centan-ived

undertheHumamtanan

Program,

2

per

cent

under

theskilled

Migration

Program

and 10
per

cent

were

classified in

other

categories.

(Yin-r

2001:

3840?

Atwell.

Correa—VeleLGrffordand
West
2006:

133).

The

community

continues

to

grow

ata

slow.but
steady

rate:between

2001

and 2006

the

Cambodian

population

inAustralia

grew

from

22,979to_24.528

(a

6.7

per

cent

increase).

Inthesame

period

therewas

a 9
per

centincreaseinthe

numberof

Cambodiansin

Victoriafrom 9003

to9790.

Adaptation

inC

ambodirmBuddhist

temples

97

In

Australia,

asin Cambodia.

the

majority

ofCambodians

areTheravada

Buddhists.

According

tothe

2006 Censusof

Population

and

Housing

there

are

24.528Cambodian

born

living

inAustralia:

ofthese

19,582

or

79.8

per

cent

are

Buddhists,

The

majority

ofCambodian

born

liveinNewSouth

Wales

(total

9972.

Buddhists

8206)

followed

by

Victoria

(total

9790.

Buddhists

7772).

Theravada

Buddhismand

the Buddhist

temples

continue

to maintaintheir

traditional

significance

for

Cambodian Buddhists

inAustralia.

Traditionally,

thedoctrines

ofTheravada

Buddhismare

seamlessly

woven

intotheworldview

ofCambodians

andhave

a

profound

influence

onall

aspects

oflife. Buddhist

templesplay

a

key

rolein

this

process:

they

not

only

disseminate

the

teachings

of

Buddhism.

butalso

actaseducationcentres

and

occupy

a

uniqueposition

in

thetransmission

ofCambodian

cultureand

values.Inaddition.

Buddhist

monks

inCambodia

traditionally

offera

range

of

communityebased.

human services

tothe

community.

In

contemporary

Cambodia.

thetraditional

role01‘

temples

hasbeen

harnessed

toaddressnew

challenges;

for

example.

Buddhist

monks

and

nunsare

actively

involvedinthe

areaofHIV/AIDS

education.

prevention

andcare.I

Thedatafromthe

case

study

for

this

chapter

ochr

insights

intothe

roleand

significance

ofBuddhism

andBuddhist

temples

for

Cambodians.This

isnota

comprehensive

study

ofCambodianBuddhist

communities

inAustralia.However.

given

the

demographics

characteristics

oftheCambodian

community

inAustralia.

the

studyprovides

a

windowonthe

roleofBtrddhist

temples

in

aiding

settlement.

The

findings

arealso

consistentwith

thoseot‘olherstudies

oflndochinese

refugees

inCanadaandthe

United

States,

where

they

havesettled

in

large

numbers.

Thereare three

Cambodian Buddhist

temples

inVictoria: theCambodian

BuddhistAssociation

ofVictoria

A

Wat

Buddharangsi,

theCambodian

Temple

ofVictoria

7

WatDhummaram.

andtheKhmer

BuddhistCentreof

Victoria

7

WatKhmer Melbourne.

Eachof

the

temples

housesa

community

ofresident

and

visiting

monks.Thereisalso

asmall

community

ofresident

nunsatWat

Buddharangsi,

whichhasthe

largestmembership

andthebest

developed

infra-

stnrctureot'

thethree

temples.

Ateach of

theseBuddhist

temples.

there isa

relationship

ofmutual

support

betweenthe

community

ofmonks

andnunsand

the

community

members.

The

temples

have

beenerected

through

community

donations

over

longperiods

chime:

the

community

also

supports

the

daily

needs

ofthemonks.

The

temples

meetthe

religious

andculturalneedsoftheir

commu-

nitiesand

ofier

support

and

practical

help

inawide

range

ot‘areas.

Theactiverole

ofthese

temples

as

religious

and

communitysupport

centresisreflected

intheir

organizational

structures.

For

example,

twoexecutivecommittees

manage

Wat

Buddharangsi

temple.

One

ofthecommittees

isa

religiousbody

and

dealswith

the

religious

needsofthe

community.

The

secondcommitteeis

responsible

for

community

development

anddealswith

youth

issues.

aged

care.

social

welfare.

cultureand

language

and

fundraising

activities

to

support

andfurther

develop

the

templesprograms

and

infrastructure.

Thetwo

key

contributions

ofCambodian

Buddhist

temples

totheircommunities

consist

of: