Leslie Massey
Australia's immigration history is a long and complex one, with the continent first experiencing human migration around 80,000 years ago when the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians arrived via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea. Since then, Australia has seen various waves of immigration that have shaped and continue to reshape the country's identity. From the early 17th century onwards, European explorers began coastal landings and permanent European settlement began in 1788 with the British colonisation of New South Wales. This marked the beginning of a migration trend that saw millions of people from the United Kingdom (including Ireland) and other parts of Europe settle in Australia over the next two centuries.
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What You'll Learn
- The first people to migrate to Australia were the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians, who arrived from Southeast Asia around 80,000 years ago
- From the early 17th century onwards, European explorers began to arrive in Australia
- European colonisation of Australia began in 1788 with the establishment of a British penal colony in New South Wales
- In the 1850s, the discovery of gold in Australia attracted migrants from China, the United States, and other countries
- After World War II, Australia launched a massive immigration program, and hundreds of thousands of displaced Europeans migrated to the country
The first people to migrate to Australia were the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians, who arrived from Southeast Asia around 80,000 years ago
Aboriginal Australians have effectively been in the country for as long as modern human populations have existed outside of Africa. Genetic evidence suggests that the ancestors of modern human populations began migrating around 50,000-55,000 years ago, and the earliest dates for human occupation of Australia come from sites in the Northern Territory. The Madjedbebe rock shelter in Arnhem Land, for example, has a widely accepted date of about 50,000 years old.
The movement from Africa to Australia was part of the "Out of Africa" exit, which saw the expansion of populations into the South and Southeast Asia region. Over time, these populations diverged into the ancestors of Ancient Ancestral South Indians (AASI), Andamanese, East Asians, and other Australasians, such as Papuans and Aboriginal Australians.
Genomic studies suggest that the peopling of Australia happened between 43,000 and 60,000 years ago. The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians belonged to the southern route dispersal and entered Australia via land bridges and short sea crossings from Southeast Asia. They adapted to diverse environments and climate change, developing one of the oldest continuous cultures on Earth.
The consensus among scholars is that before the arrival of British settlers, there was probably only one wave of immigration to Australia at least 50,000 years ago. This is supported by archaeological evidence, which shows that modern humans had reached Southeast Asia by 70,000 years ago. However, the oldest securely dated modern human remains in Australia are only about 40,000 years old.
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From the early 17th century onwards, European explorers began to arrive in Australia
The immigration history of Australia began with the migration of the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians around 80,000 years ago. From the early 17th century onwards, European explorers began to arrive in Australia. The first recorded sighting of the Australian mainland by Europeans was made by Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon in 1606. Janszoon navigated the western side of the Cape York Peninsula and charted about 300 km of coastline. He believed he was mapping part of New Guinea. The Dutch explorer named the continent "New Holland".
In October 1606, Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through the strait between the northern tip of Cape York and New Guinea, which now bears his name. Twenty-nine other Dutch navigators explored the western and southern coasts in the 17th century. Most of the explorers of this period concluded that the region lacked water and fertile soil, making it unsuitable for colonisation. The Dutch showed little interest in colonising the continent.
In 1627, the south coast of Australia was accidentally encountered by François Thijssen and named 't Land van Pieter Nuyts, after the highest-ranking passenger, Pieter Nuyts, an extraordinary Councillor of India. Abel Tasman's voyage of 1642 was the first known European expedition to reach Van Diemen's Land (later Tasmania) and New Zealand, and to sight Fiji. On his second voyage of 1644, he contributed significantly to the mapping of Australia.
In 1688, English explorer and privateer William Dampier landed on the northwest coast of New Holland, returning in 1699. In 1770, Lieutenant James Cook charted the east coast of Australia for Great Britain. In 1788, the British established a penal colony in New South Wales, marking the beginning of permanent European settlement in Australia. By the end of penal transportation in 1868, approximately 165,000 people had entered Australia as convicts.
Following World War II, Australia launched a massive immigration program, believing that it must "populate or perish". Hundreds of thousands of displaced Europeans migrated to Australia, with over 3 million people immigrating from Europe during the late 1940s until the 1960s. Over 1 million British subjects immigrated under the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme, becoming known as Ten Pound Poms. In 1947, Immigration Minister Arthur Calwell agreed to bring 12,000 people every year from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. From the late 1970s, there was a significant increase in immigration from Asian and other non-European countries.
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European colonisation of Australia began in 1788 with the establishment of a British penal colony in New South Wales
The immigration history of Australia began with the initial human migration to the continent around 80,000 years ago, when the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians arrived via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea. From the early 17th century onwards, European explorers began arriving and exploring the continent.
During the 19th century, significant immigration to Australia came from Britain and Ireland, particularly England, Scotland, and Wales, as well as from China and Germany. The discovery of gold in 1851 further attracted people to Australia, with many immigrants arriving from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, America, China, and Germany. Assisted passage schemes, such as the Empire Scheme and the Big Brother Movement, also contributed to the influx of British immigrants during this period.
After World War II, Australia launched a massive immigration program, aiming to increase its population with the slogan "populate or perish." Hundreds of thousands of displaced Europeans, including over one million British subjects, immigrated under the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme. The immigration targets were not met initially, prompting Australia to look beyond Britain, accepting refugees from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Over time, Australia's immigration policies became more inclusive, abolishing the White Australia Policy in the 1970s and signing the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
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In the 1850s, the discovery of gold in Australia attracted migrants from China, the United States, and other countries
The discovery of gold in Australia in the 1850s sparked a gold rush that attracted migrants from across the globe. During this period, an estimated 300,000 people came to Australian colonies from England and Wales, with another 100,000 from Scotland and 84,000 from Ireland. However, the gold rush also attracted migrants from beyond Britain and Europe.
Gold seekers from Germany, Italy, and North America also made the journey to Australia in the 1850s. At least 42,000 people from China arrived in Australia during this decade, and around 7,000 Chinese people worked at the Araluen gold fields in southern New South Wales. The Chinese miners often worked in organised groups of 30 to 100 men, leading to successful gold-digging efforts and resentment from European miners. This tension culminated in the Lambing Flat Riots, a series of violent anti-Chinese demonstrations in the Burrangong region of New South Wales.
Chinese migrants faced significant discrimination and racist attitudes in Australia. Newspapers published inflammatory material designed to portray Chinese immigrants negatively, and legislation was enacted to restrict Chinese immigration. In 1861, the New South Wales government passed the 'Chinese Migration Act', which introduced a tariff exclusively for Chinese people. In the 1880s, anti-Chinese sentiment intensified, with colonial premier Henry Parkes reflecting contemporary views in his statement: "There can be no... intermarriage or social communion between the British and the Chinese." This sentiment translated into policy with the passage of the Chinese Restriction and Regulation Act in 1888 and the Immigration Restriction Act in 1889, which required immigrants to write a passage in a European language chosen by the immigration officer.
The gold rush in the 1850s played a significant role in shaping the demographics and society of Victoria, which received 60% of all immigrants to Australia during this period. Many migrants stayed and contributed to the development of a new 'Australian' society, marking a pivotal chapter in the immigration history of the nation.
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After World War II, Australia launched a massive immigration program, and hundreds of thousands of displaced Europeans migrated to the country
Australia's history of immigration goes back around 80,000 years, when the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians arrived on the continent. From the early 17th century onwards, the vast majority of immigrants came from Britain and Ireland, with significant numbers also coming from China and Germany during the 19th century.
After World War II, Australia launched a massive immigration program, with the slogan "populate or perish", to increase its population and avoid the threat of another invasion. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Europeans migrated to the country, with over three million people immigrating from Europe between the late 1940s and the 1960s. This was a significant shift in Australia's immigration policy, as it was the first time the country looked outside of Britain for migrants.
The first Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell, promoted mass immigration and agreed to bring 12,000 people every year from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Calwell's decision to look outside of Britain for migrants was influenced by the work of Melbourne economist WD 'Bill' Forsyth, who argued that immigration should be linked to the development of urban industry rather than the rural sector. This new policy set a target of a one per cent increase in the population through immigration.
The post-war immigration program gave preference to migrants from Great Britain, with an initial target of nine British out of ten immigrants. However, it soon became apparent that this target would be impossible to achieve due to Britain's diminished shipping capacity. As a result, the Australian government relied on refugees from Eastern Europe, sponsored by the International Refugee Organization (IRO). Over 170,000 displaced people from Eastern Europe migrated to Australia between 1947 and 1953, and more than three million Europeans immigrated to the country between the late 1940s and the 1960s.
The second wave of post-war immigration arrived in the 1950s and 1960s, consisting of those seeking employment and better living conditions. This wave of immigration transformed Australian society, making it much more multicultural. By 2006, non-English speaking immigrant groups who arrived after World War II were still major demographic groups in Australia.
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Frequently asked questions
The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians first migrated to the continent around 80,000 years ago from Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea. The Torres Strait Islander peoples, Australia's other Indigenous cultural group, lived on the Torres Strait Islands when they came under the control of Queensland in the 1870s.
From the early 17th century onwards, Australia experienced the first coastal landings and exploration by European explorers. The first Europeans to migrate to Australia were British settlers who arrived on the First Fleet in 1788, establishing a penal colony in New South Wales. From the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, migration to Australia was dominated by Europeans, mostly from the United Kingdom (including Ireland), but also from Central and South Asia, Japan, and the South Pacific islands. The discovery of gold in 1851 triggered a gold rush that brought over 600,000 migrants from the UK, Europe, and China. In the late 1940s until the 1960s, millions of displaced Europeans immigrated to Australia, with over 1,000,000 British subjects immigrating under the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme.
Immigration has had a significant impact on shaping Australia's identity as a nation. It has helped build the economy and transform the country from a predominantly British country into one of the most multicultural societies in the world. The growth of immigration, particularly after World War II, greatly changed the national image of the Australian way of life.
