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:Post-war immigration to Australia

{{Short description|Large-scale migration after WWII}}Image:KalninsFamily&Calwell1949.jpg with the Kalnins family – the 50,000th New Australian – August 1949]]

Image:Dutch Migrant 1954 MariaScholte=50000thToAustraliaPostWW2.jpg arrived]]

Post-war immigration to Australia deals with migration to Australia in the decades immediately following World War II, and in particular refers to the predominantly European wave of immigration which occurred between 1945 and the end of the White Australia policy in 1973. In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Ben Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia (1945–1949), established the federal Department of Immigration to administer a large-scale immigration program. Chifley commissioned a report on the subject which found that Australia was in urgent need of a larger population for the purposes of defence and development and it recommended a 1% annual increase in population through increased immigration.{{Cite journal|last=Price |first=CA |date=September 1998 |title=Post-war Immigration: 1947–98 |journal=Journal of the Australian Population Association |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=115–129 |doi=10.1007/BF03029395 |jstor=41110466 |pmid=12346545 |bibcode=1998JAuPA..15..115P |s2cid=28530319 }}

The first Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell, promoted mass immigration with the slogan "populate or perish".{{Cite web |url= http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/federation/timeline1.pdf |title=Immigration to Australia During the 20th Century – Historical Impacts on Immigration Intake, Population Size and Population Composition – A Timeline |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080801014246/http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/federation/timeline1.pdf |archive-date=2008-08-01 |publisher=Department of Immigration and Citizenship (Australia) |year=2001| access-date=2008-07-18}} It was Billy Hughes, as Minister for Health and Repatriation, who had coined the "populate or perish" slogan in the 1930s.{{cite web | url=https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/features/prime-ministers/billy-hughes | title=National Museum of Australia - Billy Hughes }} Calwell coined the term "New Australians" in an effort to supplant such terms as Balt, pommy and wog.

The 1% target remained a part of government policy until the Whitlam government (1972–1975), when immigration numbers were substantially cut back, only to be restored by the Fraser government (1975–1982).

Some 4.2 million immigrants arrived between 1945 and 1985, about 40 percent of whom came from Britain and Ireland.Jan Bassett (1986) pp. 138–39{{full citation needed|date=May 2019}} 182,159 people were sponsored by the International Refugee Organization (IRO) from the end of World War II up to the end of 1954 to resettle in Australia from Europe—more than the number of convicts transported to Australia in the first 80 years after European settlement.{{Cite web|url = http://www.fifthfleet.net/index.html?0.8405937949414688|title = What is the Fifth Fleet?|last = Tündern-Smith|first = Ann|publisher = Fifth Fleet Press| date = 23 May 2008|access-date= 2008-07-21}}

"Populate or perish" policy

=The Chifley years=

File:British migrants 01 Georgic, Australia, 1949.jpg

Following the attacks on Darwin and the associated fear of Imperial Japanese invasion in World War II, the Chifley government commissioned a report on the subject which found that Australia was in urgent need of a larger population for the purposes of defence and development and it recommended a 1% annual increase in population through increased immigration. In 1945, the government established the federal Department of Immigration to administer the new immigration program. The first Minister for Immigration was Arthur Calwell. An Assisted Passage Migration Scheme was also established in 1945 to encourage Britons to migrate to Australia. The government's objective was summarised in the slogan "populate or perish". Calwell stated in 1947, to critics of mass immigration from non-British Europe: "We have 25 years at most to populate this country before the yellow races are down on us."

The post-war immigration program of the Chifley government gave them preference to migrants from Great Britain, and initially an ambitious target was set of nine British out of ten immigrants. However, it was soon apparent that even with assisted passage the government target would be impossible to achieve given that Britain's shipping capacity was quite diminished from pre-war levels. As a consequence, the government looked further afield to maintain overall immigration numbers, and this meant relying on the IRO refugees from Eastern Europe, with the US providing the necessary shipping.{{cite book|first1=James|last1=Franklin|author1-link=James Franklin (philosopher)|first2=Gerry O|last2=Nolan|title= Arthur Calwell|year=2023|url=https://www.connorcourtpublishing.com.au/Arthur-Calwell-Australian-Biographical-Monographs-20--James-Franklin-Gerry-O-Nolan_p_568.html|publisher=Connor Court|isbn=9781922815811|pages=37–41}} Many Eastern Europeans were refugees from the Red Army and thus mostly anti-Communist and so politically acceptable.{{cite conference |url=http://www.maths.unsw.edu.au/~jim/calwellACHSconf09.pdf |author=James Franklin |title=Calwell, Catholicism and the origins of multicultural Australia |date=2009 |conference=ACHS Conference 2009 |book-title=Proceedings |pages=42–54 |access-date=2019-05-20}}

=Menzies years=

File:Australia – Land of Tomorrow poster.jpg)]]

The 1% target survived a change of government in 1949, when the Menzies government succeeded Chifley's. The new Minister of Immigration was Harold Holt (1949–56).

The British component remained the largest component of the migrant intake until 1953. Between 1953 and late 1956, migrants from Southern Europe outnumbered the British, and this caused some alarm in the Australian government, causing it to place restrictions on Southern Europeans sponsoring newcomers and to commence the "Bring out a Briton" campaign. With the increase in financial assistance to British settlers provided during the 1960s, the British component was able to return to the top position in the overall number of new settlers.{{YouTube| 8MzGR4OJmGE | "Look at Life – Immigration to Australia 1950s 1960s" }}

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Europeans migrated to Australia and over 1,000,000 Britons immigrated with financial assistance.{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/200711/programs/ZY8804A001D1112007T203000.htm |title=Ten Pound Poms |date=1 November 2007 |publisher=ABC Television (Australia)}} The migration assistance scheme initially targeted citizens of Commonwealth countries; but it was gradually extended to other countries such as the Netherlands and Italy. The qualifications were straightforward: migrants needed to be in sound health and under the age of 45 years. There were initially no skill requirements, although under the White Australia policy, people from mixed-race backgrounds found it very difficult to take advantage of the scheme.{{cite web |url=http://museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/discoverycentre/your-questions/ten-pound-poms/ |title=Ten Pound Poms |date=10 May 2009 |work=Immigration Museum |publisher=Museum Victoria |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117183339/http://museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/discoverycentre/your-questions/ten-pound-poms/|archive-date=17 January 2010}}

Migration brought large numbers of southern and central Europeans to Australia for the first time. A 1958 government leaflet assured voters that unskilled non-British migrants were needed for "labour on rugged projects ...work which is not generally acceptable to Australians or British workers."Michael Dugan and Josef Swarc (1984) p. 139{{full citation needed|date=May 2019}} The Australian economy stood in sharp contrast to war-ravaged Europe, and newly arrived migrants found employment in a booming manufacturing industry and government assisted programmes such as the Snowy Mountains Scheme. This hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia consisted of sixteen major dams and seven power stations constructed between 1949 and 1974. It remains the largest engineering project undertaken in Australia. Necessitating the employment of 100,000 people from over 30 countries, to many it denotes the birth of multicultural Australia.{{cite web|url=http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/snowyscheme/ |title=The Snowy Mountains Scheme |publisher=Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (Australia) |work=Culture and Recreation Portal |date=20 March 2008 |access-date=14 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720144750/http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/snowyscheme/ |archive-date=2008-07-20}}

In 1955 the one-millionth post-war immigrant arrived in Australia. Australia's population reached 10 million in 1959, up from 7 million in 1945.

=End to the White Australia policy=

File:Adelaide Chinatown.jpg in Adelaide, 2006]]

File:Palestine Rally End The Siege, Stop the War on Gaza (53265116200).jpg in Melbourne attended by people of immigrant background, 2023]]

In 1973, Whitlam government (1972–1975) adopted a completely non-discriminatory immigration policy, effectively putting an end to the White Australia policy. However, the change occurred in the context of a substantial reduction in the overall migrant intake. This ended the post-war wave of predominantly European immigration which had started three decades before with the end of the Second World War and would make the beginnings of the contemporary wave of predominantly Asian immigration to Australia which continues to the present day.

International agreements

Financial assistance was an important element of the post war immigration program and as such there were a number of agreements in place between the Australian government and various governments and international organisations.{{Cite web|url= http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/04fifty.htm |title= of Immigration and Citizenship (Australia) |year=2007| access-date=2008-07-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080721002004/http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/04fifty.htm |archive-date=2008-07-21}}

  • United Kingdom – free or assisted passages. Immigrants under this scheme became known as Ten Pound Poms.
  • Assisted passages for ex-servicemen of the British Empire and the United States. This scheme was later extended to cover ex-servicemen and members of resistance movements from certain other Allied countries.
  • An agreement with the International Refugee Organization (IRO) to settle at least 12,000 displaced people a year from camps in Europe. Australia accepted a disproportionate share of refugees sponsored by IRO in the late 1940s and early 1950s.{{Cite journal |last=Neumann |first=Klaus| year=2003 |title=Providing a 'home for the oppressed'? Historical perspectives on Australian responses to refugees |journal=Australian Journal of Human Rights |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=1–25|doi=10.1080/1323238X.2003.11911103|s2cid=150421238|issn=1323-238X |url=http://www9.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/journals/AJHR/2003/13.html |access-date=2019-05-21|hdl=1959.3/952 |hdl-access=free }}
    {{Cite journal |last=King |first=Jackie |year=2003 |title=Australia and Canada Compared: The Reaction to the Kosovar Crisis |journal=Australian Journal of Human Rights |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=27–46 |doi=10.1080/1323238X.2003.11911104 |s2cid=168919791 |issn=1323-238X |url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AJHR/2003/14.html |access-date=2019-05-21}}
  • Formal migration agreements, often involving the grant of assisted passage, with the United Kingdom, Malta, the Netherlands, Italy, West Germany, Turkey and Yugoslavia.
  • There were also informal migration agreements with a number of other countries including Austria, Greece, Spain, and Belgium.

Timeline

class="wikitable"
PeriodEvents
1947Australia's first migrant reception centre opened at Bonegilla, Victoria – the first assisted migrants were received there in 1951.{{Cite web|url = http://www.aussieheritage.com.au/listings/vic/Bonegilla/BonegillaMigrantCentre-CampBlock19/14944 |title= Bonegilla Migrant Centre – Camp Block 19|year= 2007|access-date= 20 July 2008|work= Aussie Heritage |url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080809113036/http://www.aussieheritage.com.au/listings/vic/Bonegilla/BonegillaMigrantCentre-CampBlock19/14944 |archive-date= 9 August 2008}}
1948Australia signed Peace treaties with Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary and accepted immigrants from these countries.
1949In 1949 assisted arrivals reached more than 118,800, four times the 1948 figure.

In August Australia welcomed its 50,000th "New Australian" — or rather, the 50,000th displaced person sponsored by the IRO and to be resettled in Australia. The child was from Riga, Latvia.{{Cite web |type=Photograph |url= https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8318052 |title= Mr Arthur Calwell with the Kalnins family – the 50,000th New Australian – CU914/1 |date=1949 |publisher= National Archives of Australia |access-date=2019-05-21}}

Work began on the Snowy Mountains Scheme – a substantial employer of migrants: 100,000 people were employed from at least 30 different nationalities. Seventy percent of all the workers were migrants.

1950Net Overseas Migration was 153,685, the third highest figure of the twentieth century.{{efn|1=1950 = Third highest figure per Department of Immigration timeline: In 1919 Net Overseas Migration was 166,303 when troops returned from World War I and in 1988 it was 172,794.}}
1951The first assisted migrants received at the Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre. By 1951, the government had established three migrant reception centres for non-English speaking displaced persons from Europe, and twenty holding centres, principally to house non-working dependants, when the pressure of arrival numbers on the reception centres was too great to keep families together.
1952The IRO was abolished and from then most refugees who resettled in Australia during the 1950s were brought here under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM).
1954The 50,000th Dutch migrant arrived.{{Cite web |type=Photograph |url= https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7529336 |title= Migrant Arrivals in Australia – 50,000th Dutch migrant, arrives in Australia aboard the SIBAJAK. Miss Scholte presents Australia's Minister for Immigration, Mr. H. E. Holt, with inscribed Delft plates, which she brought as goodwill gifts from Netherlands Government |date=1954 |publisher= National Archives of Australia |access-date=2019-05-21}}
1955Australia's millionth post-war immigrant arrived. She was a 21-year-old from the United Kingdom and newly married.{{cite web |url= https://museumsvictoria.com.au/longform/journeys-to-australia/ |title = 1940s–60s – A Journey for Many |work=Journeys to Australia |publisher= Museums Victoria |access-date= 21 May 2019}}{{Cite web|url = http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/horizons/marketing_migrants/|title = Marketing Migrants|publisher = National Museum of Australia|work = Horizons (exhibition): The peopling of Australia since 1788|access-date = 21 July 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080729011212/http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/horizons/marketing_migrants/|archive-date = 29 July 2008|url-status = dead}}{{Cite magazine |url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,866633-1,00.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121025103637/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,866633-1,00.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = 25 October 2012 |title= Their Country's Good |url-access=subscription |magazine= Time|date= 21 November 1955 |access-date= 21 July 2008|quote= Only in the decade since World War II has Australia, by means of a vast and wisely planned immigration scheme, banished the last vestiges of the emigration stigma. Last week the drums were beating as, with much eclat, bright and chirpy Barbara Porritt stepped ashore at Melbourne. She was Australia's millionth immigrant since 1945.}}
1971Migrant camp at Bonegilla, Victoria closed – some 300,000 migrants had spent time there.

Settler arrivals by top 10 countries of birth

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
BirthplaceJuly 1949 – June 1959{{Cite report | title = Immigration: Federation to Century's End 1901–2000 | page = 25|publisher = Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs |date = October 2001 |issn=1446-0033 |url= http://www.nellrundle.com/Teaching/Immigration_FederationToCentorysEnd1901-2000.pdf |access-date = 21 May 2019}}{{efn |1=Immigration: Federation to Century's End 1901–2000: "Settler arrivals by birthplace data not available prior to 1959. For the period July 1949 to June 1959, Permanent and Long Term Arrivals by Country of Last Residence have been included as a proxy for this data. When interpreting this data for some countries...in the period immediately after World War II, there were large numbers of displaced persons whose country of last residence was not necessarily the same as their birthplace."}}July 1959 – June 1970{{efn|1=Note this period covers 11 years rather than a decade.}}July 1970 – June 1980
United Kingdom & Ireland419,946 (33.5%)654,640 (45.3%)342,373 (35.8%)
Italy201,428 (16.1%)150,669 (10.4%)28,800 (3.0%)
New Zealand29,649 (2.4%)30,341 (2.1%)58,163 (6.1%)
Germany162,756 (13.0%)50,452 (3.5%)not in top 10
Greece55,326 (4.4%)124,324 (8.6%)30,907 (3.2%)
Yugoslavia{{efn|1=Yugoslavia recorded until 1994–95 inclusive.}}not in top 1094,555 (6.5%)61,283 (6.4%)
Netherlands100,970 (8.1%)36,533 (2.5%)not in top 10
Malta38,113 (3.0%)28,916 (2.0%)not in top 10
US16,982 (1.4%)20,467 (1.4%)27,769 (2.9%)
Spainnot in top 1017,611 (1.2%)not in top 10
Total settler arrivals1,253,0831,445,356956,769

Migrant reception and training centres

File:Bonegilla camp 1954.jpg, 1954]]

On arrival in Australia, many migrants went to migrant reception and training centres where they learned some English while they looked for a job. The Department of Immigration was responsible for the camps and kept records on camp administration and residents.{{cite web |url=http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/migration/migrant-accommodation.aspx |title=Migrant accommodation |publisher= National Archives of Australia |access-date=2019-05-21}} The migrant reception and training centres were also known as Commonwealth Immigration Camps, migrant hostels, immigration dependants' holding centres, migrant accommodation, or migrant workers' hostels.{{cite web | url=http://sharpesonline.com/migrant_hostels_in_ausralia.htm | title=Migrant Hostels in Australia |website=Sharpes On Line |access-date=22 December 2012}}{{cite web | url=http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs170.aspx | title=Migrant hostels in New South Wales, 1946–78 – Fact sheet 170 | publisher=National Archives of Australia | access-date=2013-05-28 | archive-date=11 February 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140211235255/http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs170.aspx | url-status=dead }}

Australia's first migrant reception centre opened at Bonegilla, Victoria near Wodonga in December 1947. When the camp closed in 1971, some 300,000 migrants had spent time there.

By 1951, the government had established three migrant reception centres for non-English speaking displaced persons from Europe, and twenty holding centres, principally to house non-working dependants, when the pressure of arrival numbers on the reception centres was too great to keep families together. The purpose of reception and training centres was to:

provide for general medical examination and x-ray of migrants, issue of necessary clothing, payment of social service benefits, interview to determine employment potential, instruction in English and the Australian way of life generally.

The centres were located throughout Australia (dates are those of post office opening and closing.{{Cite web |website= Premier Postal Auctions |title= Post Office List |url= https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&country= |access-date= 11 April 2008 }})

= Queensland =

= New South Wales (NSW) =

  • Bathurst (1948 to 1952){{cite web |website=A Place For Everyone – Bathurst Migrant Camp 1948 – 1952 |url=http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/aplaceforeveryone/bathurst-migrant-camp/ |title=Bathurst Migrant Camp |access-date=2019-05-20}}
  • Bradfield Park, now Lindfield
  • Chullora, a suburb of Sydney (1 August 1949 to 31 October 1967)
  • Greta, near Newcastle (1 June 1949 to 15 January 1960)
  • Uranquinty (1 December 1948 to 31 March 1959)

Other hostels in New South Wales included Adamstown, Balgownie, Bankstown, Berkeley, Bunnerong, Burwood, Cabramatta, Cronulla, Dundas, East Hills, Ermington, Goulburn, Katoomba, Kingsgrove, Kyeemagh, Leeton, Lithgow, Mascot, Matraville, Mayfield, Meadowbank, Nelson Bay, North Head, Orange, Parkes, Port Stephens, Randwick, St Marys, Scheyville, Schofields, Unanderra, Villawood, Wallerawang and Wallgrove.

= Victoria =

= South Australia =

{{Main|Migrant hostels of South Australia}}

= Western Australia =

  • Northam Holden (15 August 1949 to 30 June 1957)
  • Graylands
  • Cunderdin
  • Point Walter{{Cite web |url=http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/PrintSingleRecord/c7622ec9-c286-4a43-8263-80761a5640a0 |title=Point Walter Former Army Camp Site (whole site including watch house) |website=in Herit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525063527/http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/PrintSingleRecord/c7622ec9-c286-4a43-8263-80761a5640a0 |archive-date=25 May 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=25 May 2018}}

Breakdown of arrivals by decade

File:Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Australia by SLA - BCP field 1922 Total Year of arrival 1941 1950.svg |1941–1950

File:Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Australia by SLA - BCP field 1923 Total Year of arrival 1951 1960.svg |1951–1960

File:Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Australia by SLA - BCP field 1924 Total Year of arrival 1961 1970.svg |1961–1970

File:Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Australia by SLA - BCP field 1925 Total Year of arrival 1971 1980.svg |1971–1980

In the post-war wave of immigration Australia has experienced average arrivals of around one million per decade. The breakdown by decade is as follows:

  • 1.6 million between October 1945 and 30 June 1960;
  • about 1.3 million in the 1960s; and
  • about 960.000 in the 1970s;

The highest number of arrivals during the period was 185,099 in 1969–70 and the lowest was 52,752 in 1975–76.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}

2006 demographics of post-war period non-English speaking immigrant groups

In the 2006 census, birthplace was enumerated as was date of arrival in Australia for those not born in Australia. For the major post-war period non-English speaking immigrant groups enlarged by the arrival of immigrants to Australia after World War II, they are still major demographic groups in Australia:

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
Ethnic group

!Persons born overseas{{Cite web|url = http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/5618AB4511347DC2CA257306000D44C2/$File/2914055002_2006%20(Reissue).xls |format = Excel | title = 2914.0.55.002 2006 Census Ethnic Media Package| date = 27 June 2007|access-date = 2008-07-14|publisher = Australian Bureau of Statistics |work = Census Dictionary, 2006 (cat.no: 2901.0)}}

!Arrived 1979 or earlier

!Aged 60 years and over

This compares with 18% of Australian residents
who were aged 60 or over at the time of the census{{efn |1=3,602,573 Australian residents were aged 60 or over as a proportion of 19,855,288.{{Cite web|url = http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/ViewData?action=404&documentproductno=0&documenttype=Details&order=1&tabname=Details&areacode=0&issue=2006&producttype=Census%20Tables&javascript=true&textversion=false&navmapdisplayed=true&breadcrumb=TLPD&&collection=Census&period=2006&productlabel=Age%20(full%20classification%20list)%20by%20Sex%20&producttype=Census%20Tables&method=Place%20of%20Usual%20Residence&topic=Age%20&%20Population%20Distribution&|title = Cat. No. 2068.0 – 2006 Census Tables: Age (Full Classification List) by sex – Count of persons (excludes overseas visitors) |work = 2006 Census of Population and Housing Australia (Australia)|publisher = Australian Bureau of Statistics|date = 2007-06-27|access-date = 2008-07-21}}{{dead link|date=May 2019}}
{{cite web |title=Improved access to historical Census data |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/cowsredirect |publisher = Australian Bureau of Statistics |access-date=2019-05-21}}{{verification needed|date=May 2019}} }}

!Australian citizens

Italian Australian199,124176,536 or 89%63%157,209 or 79%
Greek Australian109,99094,766 or 86%60%104,950 or 95%
German Australian106,52474,128 or 79%46%75,623 or 71%
Dutch Australian78,92462,495 or 79%52%59,502 or 75%
Croatian Australian50,99635,598 or 70%43%48,271 or 95%

Not all of those enumerated would have arrived as post-war migrants, specific statistics as at 2006 are not available.

Numbers

In September 2022, the Albanese government increased the permanent migration intake from 160,000 to a record 195,000 a year.{{Cite web |last=Clun |first=David Crowe, Angus Thompson, Rachel |date=2 September 2022 |title=Albanese government will increase permanent migration to record 195,000 |url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-to-act-on-queue-of-1-million-migrants-20220902-p5bet8.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202040348/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-to-act-on-queue-of-1-million-migrants-20220902-p5bet8.html |archive-date=2 December 2022 |access-date=2 December 2022 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Australia's migration future |url=https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/ClareONeil/Pages/australias-migration-future.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214140814/https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/ClareONeil/Pages/australias-migration-future.aspx |archive-date=14 December 2022 |access-date=22 December 2022 |website=minister.homeaffairs.gov.au}}{{Cite web |date=2 September 2022 |title=Australia raises permanent migration cap to 195,000 to ease workforce shortages |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/02/australia-raises-permanent-migration-cap-to-195000-to-ease-workforce-shortages |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202040338/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/02/australia-raises-permanent-migration-cap-to-195000-to-ease-workforce-shortages |archive-date=2 December 2022 |access-date=2 December 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} Net overseas migration is expected to reach 650,000 over 2022–2023, and 2023–2024, the highest in Australian history.{{cite web |date=5 April 2023 |title=What's behind the recent surge in Australia's net migration – and will it last? |url=https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-the-recent-surge-in-australias-net-migration-and-will-it-last-203155 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522034701/https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-the-recent-surge-in-australias-net-migration-and-will-it-last-203155 |archive-date=22 May 2023 |access-date=22 May 2023}}

Net overseas migration was 536,000 in 2022–23,{{cite news |title=Unfair reality facing thousands of young Australians |url=https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/interest-rates/unfair-reality-facing-thousands-of-young-australians/news-story/87c50e3bf9edefbdccd7b34966bd3dbf |work=News.com.au |date=1 January 2025}} up from 170,900 in 2021–22.{{cite news |title=Overseas Migration |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/overseas-migration/2021-22-financial-year |work=Australian Bureau of Statistics |date=16 December 2022}} Overall migration was 739,000 in 2022–23.{{cite news |last1=Chung |first1=Frank |title=Australia adds 446,000 net overseas migrants in 2023-24 |url=https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/australia-adds-446000-net-overseas-migrants-in-202324/news-story/78467999ae09bd21b58ab1721ccfd7e8 |work=News.com.au |date=13 December 2024}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
PeriodMigration programme{{Cite web |url=https://www.border.gov.au/about/corporate/information/fact-sheets/02key |title=Fact sheet - Key facts about immigration |access-date=18 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912192513/http://www.border.gov.au/about/corporate/information/fact-sheets/02key |archive-date=12 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/1011/AustMigration|title=Australia's Migration Program|first=Canberra|last=corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House|website=www.aph.gov.au|access-date=13 June 2018|archive-date=13 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613134026/https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/1011/AustMigration|url-status=live}}
1998–9968 000
1999–0070 000 {{increase}}
2000–0176 000 {{increase}}
2001–0285 000 {{increase}}
2002–03108,070 {{increase}}
2003–2004114,360 {{increase}}
2004–2005120,060 {{increase}}
2005142,933 {{increase}}
2006148,200 {{increase}}
2007158,630 {{increase}}
2008171,318 {{increase}}
2011185,000 {{increase}}
2012190,000 {{increase}}
2013190,000{{Cite web| title=2013–14 Migration Programme Report | url=https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-programme-2013-14.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311113154/https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-programme-2013-14.pdf | archive-date=2019-03-11}}{{Cite web | title=Migration program statistics | url=https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-statistics/statistics/visa-statistics/live/migration-program | access-date=2025-04-04 | website=www.homeaffairs.gov.au}}
2015-2016190,000{{Cite web| title=2015–16 Migration Programme Report | url=https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/2015-16-migration-programme-report.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311112946/https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/2015-16-migration-programme-report.pdf | archive-date=2019-03-11}}
2016-2017190,000{{Cite web| title=2016-17 Migration Programme Report | url=https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-on-migration-program-2016-17.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311112843/https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-on-migration-program-2016-17.pdf | archive-date=2019-03-11}}
2017-2018190,000{{Cite web| title=2017–18 Migration Program Report | url=https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-program-2017-18.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311112759/https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-program-2017-18.pdf | archive-date=2019-03-11}}
2018-2019190,000{{Cite web| title=2018 – 19 Migration Program Report | url=https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-program-2018-19.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405123701/https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-program-2018-19.pdf | archive-date=2020-04-05}}
2023-2024190,000{{Cite web | title=Migration Program planning levels | url=https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/migration-program-planning-levels#:~:text=In%20the%202024%E2%80%9325%20Migration,21%20and%202021%E2%80%9322%20respectively. | access-date=2025-04-04 | website=immi.homeaffairs.gov.au}}

See also

{{Portal|Australia}}

Notes

{{Notelist}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{cite journal | last=Markus | first=Andrew | title=Labour and Immigration 1946-9: The Displaced Persons Program | journal=Labour History | publisher=Australian Society for the Study of Labour History | issue=47 | year=1984 | issn=0023-6942 | jstor=27508686 | pages=73–90 | doi=10.2307/27508686 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/27508686 }}

External links

  • {{cite web | title=Migration | website=National Museum of Australia | url=https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/collection/collection/migration }}
  • {{cite web | title=History of migration to Australia | website=NSW Migration Heritage Centre | url=https://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/homepage/index.html }} (archived website)
  • {{cite web | title=Home page | website=Migration Museum | url=https://migration.history.sa.gov.au/}} (South Australia)
  • {{cite web | title=Immigration Museum | website=Museums Victoria | url=https://museumsvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/ }}
  • {{cite web | title=Immigration Stories | website=Western Australian Museum | url=https://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/education/maritime/immigration-stories/ }}
  • {{cite web | title=Home page | website=Museum of Chinese Australian History | url=https://www.chinesemuseum.com.au/}}
  • {{cite web | title= World War II Refugees to Australia | website=Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild | url=https://www.immigrantships.net/ww2_au.html}} Ships and passenger lists

{{Australia topics}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Post War Immigration To Australia}}

Category:Post-war period

Category:History of immigration to Australia

Category:Aftermath of World War II in Australia