The first Sikhs arrived in Australia from the Punjab in the late 19th Century, mainly as indentured labourers in the cane fields of northern NSW. Sikh religious activity was, and continues to be, strongly focused in this area; in the 1960s, Australia’s first two Sikh temples were built north of Coffs Harbour, NSW.

After a period of dormancy during the white Australia immigration policy, demand appeared for the first Sikh temple to be built in Sydney in 1970 and two further temples were built in Melbourne soon after. Although most Sikhs have come to Australia from India, there has also been some significant recent Sikh emigration from Malaysia. In the 1996 census, 12,017 Australians identified their religion as Sikh.