Sikh Contribution to AUS Economy; Student Alleges Foul Play in US Competition

July

2026

Chair of the Young Sikh Professional Network (YSPN), Australia, Amardeep Singh Gill says, 'Australian Sikhs are more than just Uber and truck drivers.' YSPN's 2023 Economic Impact Report found that while Sikhs make up around 0.8% of Australia's population, they contribute more than 1% of the national economy, generating an estimated AUD 15.4B annually. Gill said this contribution comes despite many migrants working below their skill level because of skills and employment mismatches. Gill added, ‘Sikhs have been in Australia for over a 100 years. At present they work in transport, healthcare, community services, information technology, retail, and sports sectors. Australia had 200K Sikhs in 2021 and they have been doubling in numbers every census year.’ Meanwhile, the family of a 15-year-old Indian-American Sikh student Aangad Singh, has questioned the scoring of the Trump administration’s ‘Presidential 1776 Award civics competition’ after he narrowly missed a top-three finish. Aangad, a high school student from Milford, Connecticut, believes errors in judging may have cost him a place among the winners of the national civics contest organized by the US Department of Education as part of celebrations marking US’ 250^th anniversary. The congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus called the result foul in a social media post, ‘Why did the judges improperly grade a Sikh student’s correct responses as wrong? Why did the Department of Education refuse to conduct a review?' Also, a scholarship winner 20-year-old Gurikpreet Singh died when his father's licensed firearm allegedly misfired when he was cleaning it at his native village Ganda Singh Wala, Barnala district. Gurikpreet was studying at Pennsylvania State University on the prestigious Penn State Provost Award. Gurikpreet had played a key role in the passage of New Jersey Senate Resolution 108 (SR 108) in December 2023, which introduced Sikhism into the state's social studies curriculum. Concurrently in Canada, 23-year-old Damanpreet Kaur from Samrala, Ludhiana district was strangled to death at her home in Edmonton. Police have arrested her live-in partner Ritish Kumar in connection with the murder. Simultaneously, the Panjab Police has secured the extradition of fugitive gangster Jobanjit Singh alias Joban Billa from Indonesia. Joban Billa has been evading arrest by operating across multiple countries over the past six months (earlier coverage).