French Australians

File:Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Inner Sydney by POA - BCP field 1090 French Total Responses.svg

According to the 2006 Australian census, 98,332 Australians (or 0.47% of the population) claim French ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry. Of these, 19,186 were born in France and 12,735 of them had since acquired Australian citizenship.

8,281 (or 43%) of the residents born in France had arrived in Australia in 1979 or earlier.

Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec, Lapérouse, Louis Antoine de Bougainville, Jules Dumont d'Urville, Nicolas Baudin, François Péron and Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne were some of the early European explorers to reach the continent. Francis Barrallier explored the Blue Mountains.

Many Australians with French ancestry are descended from Huguenot refugees. Some of the earliest Huguenots to arrive in Australia held prominent positions in English society, notably Jane Franklin and Charles La Trobe.

Others who came later were from poorer Huguenot families. They migrated to Australia from England in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to escape the poverty in the East End of London, notably in the Huguenot enclaves of Spitalfields and Bethnal Green. Their impoverishment had been brought about by the effect of the Industrial Revolution, which caused the collapse of the Huguenot-dominated silk-weaving industry.

A number of French orders of priests, nuns and brothers have contributed to the Catholic Church in Australia. They included the teaching orders of the De La Salle Brothers,C. Moe, Hardly a soft landing: the first Australian foundation of the De La Salle Brothers - Armidale 1906, Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 28 (2007), 67-73. Marist BrothersN.A. Dennis, Pioneer Marist Brothers in Sydney, Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 19 (1998), 65-73. and Marist Sisters. The prominent school St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill was founded by the French Marist Brother Emilian Pontet in 1881. The Marist Fathers staffed parishes and conducted missionary activities in the South Pacific.A.P. Jeffcott, The coming of the Marist Fathers to Australia and the history of Villa Maria, Sydney, Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 3 (2) (1970), 13-28. The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, based in Kensington, New South Wales, ran missions in remote Australia and New Guinea.J. Franklin, [http://web.maths.unsw.edu.au/~jim/franklinmissions.pdf Catholic missions to Aboriginal Australia: An evaluation of their overall effect], Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 37 (1) (2016), 45-68.

French architectural influence is still visible in Hunters Hill, not only in church buildings but also but in private houses built by the unusually large number of French settlers in the suburb.B. Sherry, [http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/hunters_hill Hunters Hill], Dictionary of Sydney, 2008.

The largest post-war increase in French migration to Australia came during the 1960s and 1970s; unlike many other European countries, France did not establish a migration scheme in the immediate post-war period due to chronic underemployment, despite Australia seeing the French as some of the most desirable immigrants to obtain during that era.{{cite journal|first=Eric|last=Bouvet|url=http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/deptlang/fulgor/volume3i2/papers/bouvet_v3i2.pdf|title=French migration to Australia in the post WWII period: Benevolent tolerance and cautious collaboration|journal=Flinders University Languages Group Online Review|publisher=Flinders University|issn=1446-9219|volume=3|issue=2|date=August 2007|access-date=6 January 2017}}

Since that time, there has only been a small flow of French immigrants to Australia. Many people in the French-Australian community now originate from French overseas territories, especially New Caledonia.

Today, the Brisbane French Festival, held over the Bastille Day weekend, is Australia's biggest French festival.{{cite web|url=http://www.brisbanefrenchfestival.com.au/|publisher=Brisbane French Festival|title=En collaboration avec l'Alliance Française}} Participants include both French-born Australians and Australians of more distant French ancestry.

Alliance Française has an active presence in most Australian cities, teaching the French language, holding cultural events such as Beaujolais Nouveau festivals and sponsoring the nation's annual French film festival.{{cite web|url=http://www.affrenchfilmfestival.org/|title=Alliance Francaise French Film Festival 2016 in Australia|publisher=affrenchfilmfestival.org|access-date=30 April 2016}} SBS has also done much to increase the popularity of French cinema and culture with Australian audiences, though Hollywood still predominates with mainstream audiences.

Some Australians of French Huguenot descent have completely assimilated into the country's predominantly Anglo-Saxon culture but most still quietly but tenaciously hold on to as many aspects as they can of their French heritage and identify themselves very much as Huguenots, even hundreds of years after being exiled. The Huguenot Society of Australia does much to encourage Australian Huguenots to embrace their cultural heritage and provides genealogical research services.{{cite web|url=http://www.huguenotsaustralia.org.au/|title=Welcome to The Huguenot Society of Australia Website|author=The Huguenot Society of Australia|access-date=30 April 2016}}

French cuisine has influenced the nation with French-inspired cafes, restaurants and boulangeries to be found in most major cities.{{cite web|url=http://www.frenchaustralia.com.au/index.php|title=Guide for all French products and services like French travel & restaurants|publisher=French Australia|access-date=30 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331022434/http://frenchaustralia.com.au/index.php|archive-date=31 March 2016|url-status=dead}} French immigrant chefs, particularly those who appear on television, have done much to promote French cooking and food philosophy, including a growing understanding of the concept of terroir.

The French Benevolent Society has an active presence in the nation, providing a support network for elderly and incapacitated French Australians.{{Cite web |url=http://frenchbenevolent.com/ |title=Accueil et Futurs Evénéments - French Benevolent Association of South Australia |access-date=31 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605020433/http://frenchbenevolent.com/ |archive-date=5 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}

Most of the French-born people in Australia are Roman Catholics and the Reformed Church of France (Église Réformée de France) is yet to establish a presence in the country, despite the vibrant group of Australians of Huguenot descent. However, Taizé-style services are becoming increasingly popular with both Roman Catholics and Protestants from a variety of denominations. Taizé provides one of the key grassroots ecumenical movements in the nation.

French international schools in Australia include:

• Lycée Condorcet (Sydney)
• Telopea Park School (Canberra)
• Auburn High School (Melbourne)
• Tingalpa State School/École publique de Tingalpa (Brisbane){{cite web|url=https://aefe.gouv.fr/fr/etablissements/tingalpa-state-school-ecole-publique-de-tingalpa|title=Tingalpa State school - École publique de Tingalpa|publisher=Agency for French Education Abroad|language=fr|access-date=2025-01-19}}
• École maternelle franco-australienne Red Hill (Canberra){{cite web|url=https://aefe.gouv.fr/fr/etablissements/ecole-maternelle-franco-australienne-red-hill|title=École maternelle franco-australienne Red Hill|publisher=Agency for French Education Abroad|language=fr|access-date=2025-01-19}}
• Section Française de Caulfield Junior College/École française de Melbourne (Melbourne){{cite web|url=https://aefe.gouv.fr/fr/etablissements/ecole-francaise-de-melbourne|title=École française de Melbourne|publisher=Agency for French Education Abroad|language=fr|access-date=2025-01-19}}

{{Portal|France|Australia}}

• Alliance française
• Australia–France relations
• Bretons
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• Canadian Australians
• Dragonnade
• European Australians
• Europeans in Oceania
• French diaspora
• History of France
• Huguenot cross
• Huguenot
• Immigration to Australia
• List of Huguenots
• Reformed Church of France
• Religion in France
• Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
• Taizé Community

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web|format=XLS|url=http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/download?format=xls&collection=Census&period=2006&productlabel=Ancestry%20(full%20classification%20list)%20by%20Sex&producttype=Census%20Tables&method=Place%20of%20Usual%20Residence&areacode=0|title=2006 Census of Population and Housing: Australia: Ancestry (full classification list) by sex|publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics|work=2006 Census|access-date=19 May 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310121707/http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/download?format=xls&collection=Census&period=2006&productlabel=Ancestry%20(full%20classification%20list)%20by%20Sex&producttype=Census%20Tables&method=Place%20of%20Usual%20Residence&areacode=0|archive-date=10 March 2008}}

{{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=POLTD&&collection=Census&period=2006&productlabel=Country%20of%20Birth%20of%20Person%20(full%20classification%20list)%20by%20Sex&producttype=Census%20Tables&method=Place%20of%20Usual%20Residence&topic=Birthplace&|title=20680-Country of Birth of Person (full classification list) by Sex – Australia|format=XLS|publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics|work=2006 Census|access-date=27 May 2008|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225044257/http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/cowsredirect|url-status=dead}}

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

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• [http://www.ambafrance-au.org French Embassy]
• [http://www.ambafrance-au.org/France-in-Queensland France in Australia]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130605020433/http://frenchbenevolent.com/ French Benevolent Society]
• [http://www.huguenotsaustralia.org.au/ Huguenot Society of Australia]
• [http://www.afbrisbane.com/ Alliance Française (Brisbane Branch)]
• [http://www.ambafrance-au.org/French-schools-in-Australia French Schools in Australia]
• [http://www.facci.com.au/ French Australia Chamber of Commerce and Industry]
• [http://www.fanssydney.org/ French Association of the North Shore (Sydney)]
• [http://www.eglise-reformee-fr.org/ Eglise Réformée de France]
• [http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/04/29/2230849.htm French Connection: Early French Explorers of Tasmania]
• [http://www.justpacific.com/tasmania/huon/gardens.html Tasmania's Historic French Gardens]
• [http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/05/12/327281_tasmania-news.html Tassie's French Connection]
• [http://www.ambafrance-au.org/France-in-Tasmania France in Tasmania]
• [http://www.thecultureconcept.com/circle/napoleon-bonaparte-notable-australian-connections Napoleon Bonaparte: Notable Australian Connections]
• [http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/how-very-french-20120519-1yxcz.html How Very French]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120531003407/http://www.rogerwilliams.net/family_history/huguenot/index.htm History of the Huguenots]
• [http://www.french-culture.info French culture in Australia]
• {{cite web|url=http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/french|title=French|access-date=4 October 2015|first=Ivan|last=Barko|date=2008|work=Dictionary of Sydney}} (French in Sydney)

{{Ethnic groups in Australia}}

{{French diaspora}}

Category:European diaspora in Australia

Australia

Category:French-Australian culture