79-469: German Australians (German: Deutsch-Australier ) are Australians with German ancestry. German Australians constitute one of the largest ancestry groups in Australia, and German is the fifth most identified European ancestry in Australia behind English, Irish, Scottish and Italian. German Australians are one of the largest groups within the global German diaspora . Germans have been in Australia since
158-490: A German-language radio program on SBS Radio 2 every weekday from 7 PM to 8 PM. They also air German broadcaster Deutsche-Welle's Der Tag news program every morning as part of its WorldWatch programming block. There were many German missionaries who emigrated to Australia, established mission stations and worked with Aboriginal Australians , in some cases helping to preserve their languages and culture. Australians Australians , colloquially known as Aussies , are
237-595: A distinct people of Melanesian ancestry, indigenous to the Torres Strait Islands, which are at the northernmost tip of Queensland near Papua New Guinea , and some nearby settlements on the mainland. The term "Aboriginal" is traditionally applied to only the indigenous inhabitants of mainland Australia and Tasmania , along with some of the adjacent islands. Indigenous Australians is an inclusive term used when referring to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders (the "first peoples"). Dispersing across
316-889: A long time. This meant approximately 4.5% of the German-Australian population were held in internment camps. One of the largest internment camps for imprisoned officers and soldiers of the Imperial German Navy from the warzones in the Pacific, in China and in Southeast Asia, was the Trial Bay Gaol. Among those interned were German and Austrian business people who had been captured on ships, as well as wealthy, high-standing Germans and Austrians living in Australia who were assumed to be sympathising with
395-486: A number were interned or deported – or both. The persecution of German Australians also included the closure of German schools, the banning of the German language in government schools, and the renaming of many German place names. To avoid persecution and/or to demonstrate that they commit themselves to their new home, many German Australians changed their names into Anglicised or Francophone variants. During WWII, Australia
474-678: A per capita basis in Queensland and South Australia. In December 2001, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs estimated that there were 15,000 Australian citizens resident in Germany. According to census data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2004, German Australians are, by religion, 32.8% Lutheran , 21.7% Catholic , 16.5% Anglican , 24.8% No Religion and 4.2 Other Religions. In 2001,
553-482: A proportion of the total population was as follows: 57.2% European (including 46% North-West European and 11.2% Southern and Eastern European ), 33.8% (including 29.9% Australian) Oceanian , 17.4% Asian (including 6.5% Southern and Central Asian , 6.4% North-East Asian , and 4.5% South-East Asian ), 3.2% North African and Middle Eastern , 1.4% Peoples of the Americas , and 1.3% Sub-Saharan African . At
632-403: A result of changes in the demographic makeup of immigrants and as there has been increased economic and cultural intercourse with Asian nations, Australia has observed the gradual emergence of a "Eurasian society" within its major urban hubs, blending both European and Asian material and popular culture within a distinctly Australian context. Other influences include Australian Aboriginal culture ,
711-497: A result of many shared linguistic, historical, cultural and geographic characteristics, Australians have often identified closely with New Zealanders in particular. Australian citizenship prior to 1949 was a social, moral, and political concept. Prior to the introduction of Australian citizenship , Australians had the status of " British subjects ". The High Court of Australia in Potter v Minahan (1908) stated that "Although there
790-617: A series of gold rushes in the 1850s and after the First and Second World Wars, with many post-World War II migrants coming from Southern Europe , Eastern Europe and The Middle East . Since the end of the White Australia policy in 1973, immigrants to Australia have come from around the world, and from Asia in particular. The predominance of the English language , the existence of a parliamentary system of government drawing upon
869-657: A sustainable population of around 750,000. Berrima, New South Wales Berrima ( / b ɛ r ə m ə / ) is a historic village in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales , Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire . The village, once a major town, is located on the Old Hume Highway between Sydney and Canberra . It was previously known officially as the Town of Berrima . It
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#1732801007258948-440: A theatre performance of the comedy Minna von Barnhelm by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing . They had their own orchestra and in 1917 created their own newspaper named Welt am Montag (World on Monday), which was published once a week. In memory of the four Germans who died in the camp, the internees built a monument on the hill at Trial Bay. The internees were transferred in 1918 due to fears that German warships would be able to land in
1027-564: Is close to the three major towns of the Southern Highlands : Mittagong , Bowral and Moss Vale . The name Berrima is believed to derive from an Aboriginal word meaning either "southward" or "black swan". The area around Berrima was once occupied by the Dharawal Aborigines. The region and Wingecarribee River was first visited by Europeans during the late 1790s, including a 1798 expedition led by an ex-convict, John Wilson. However, John and Hamilton Hume rediscovered
1106-501: Is home to a diversity of cultures , a result of its history of immigration . Since 1788, Australian culture has primarily been a Western culture strongly influenced by early Anglo-Celtic settlers. The cultural divergence and evolution that has occurred over the centuries since European settlement has resulted in a distinctive Australian culture. As the Asian Australian population continues to expand and flourish as
1185-455: Is no Australian nationality as distinguished from British nationality, there is an Australian species of British nationality." The Australian Bureau of Statistics does not collect data on race , but asks each Australian resident to nominate up to two ancestries each census . These ancestry responses are classified into broad standardised ancestry groups. At the 2021 census, the number of ancestry responses within each standardised group as
1264-522: Is thought to be higher than the numbers captured in the census as those nominating their ancestry as "Australian" are classified within the Oceanian group, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics has stated that most who nominate "Australian" as their ancestry are Anglo-Celtic Australians . Since soon after the beginning of British settlement in 1788, people of European descent have formed
1343-585: The de facto national language. Australian English is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon, and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling. General Australian serves as the standard dialect. At the 2021 census, English was the only language spoken in the home for 72% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Mandarin (2.7%), Arabic (1.4%), Vietnamese (1.3%), Cantonese (1.2%) and Punjabi (0.9%). Over 250 Indigenous Australian languages are thought to have existed at
1422-660: The Australian colonies . From the mid-19th century, Chinese dubbed Australia the New Gold Mountain after the Gold Mountain of California in North America. They typically sent money to their families in the villages, regularly visited their families, and retired to their home villages after many years working as market gardeners , shopkeepers or cabinet-makers . As with many overseas Chinese groups
1501-739: The Fall of France in 1940. After the Second World War , Australia received a large influx of ethnic German displaced persons who were a significant proportion of Australia's post war immigrants . A number of German scientists were recruited soon after the War through the ESTEA scheme some of them coming by migrant ships such as the SS Partizanka . In the 1950s and 1960s, German immigration continued under assisted migration programs promoted by
1580-597: The Lutheran Church remained at the centre of the German settlers' lives right into the 20th century. Forty-Eighters is a term for those who participated in or supported the European Revolutions of 1848 . Many emigrated as a result of those revolutions. In particular, following the ultimate failure of the "March Revolution" in Germany , a substantial number of Germans immigrated to Australia. See Forty-Eighters in Australia . By 1900, Germans were
1659-678: The Philippines , while many are descendants of such immigrants. The very early history of Chinese Australians involved significant immigration from villages of the Pearl River Delta in Southern China. More recent Chinese migrants include those from Mandarin and other Chinese dialects or forms. Less well-known are the kinds of society Chinese Australians came from, the families they left behind and what their intentions were in migrating. Gold rushes lured many Chinese to
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#17328010072581738-609: The Roman Catholic Church (20% of the population) and the Anglican Church of Australia (9.8%). Multicultural immigration since the Second World War has led to the growth of non-Christian religions, the largest of which are Islam (3.2%), Hinduism (2.7%), Buddhism (2.4%), Sikhism (0.8%), and Judaism (0.4%). In 2021, just under 8,000 people declared an affiliation with traditional Aboriginal religions. According to Australian Aboriginal mythology and
1817-472: The Second World War , the vast majority of settlers and immigrants came from the British Isles (principally England , Ireland , Wales and Scotland ), although there was significant immigration from China and Germany during the 19th century. Many early settlements were initially penal colonies to house transported convicts . Immigration increased steadily, with an explosion of population in
1896-459: The Westminster system , constitutional monarchy , American constitutionalist and federalist traditions, Christianity as the dominant religion, and the popularity of sports including cricket , rugby football and tennis are evidence of a significant Anglo-Celtic heritage derived from the descendants of early settlers who form an ancestral group known as Anglo-Celtic Australians . As
1975-577: The animist framework developed in Aboriginal Australia, the Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral totemic spirit beings formed The Creation . The Dreaming established the laws and structures of society and the ceremonies performed to ensure continuity of life and land. The current Australian resident population is estimated at 27,837,000 (28 November 2024). This does not include Australians living overseas . In 2015, 2.15% of
2054-406: The citizens , nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia . This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Australian. Australian law does not provide for a racial or ethnic component of nationality, instead relying on citizenship as a legal status, though
2133-495: The 1850s following a series of gold rushes . In the decades immediately following the Second World War, Australia received a large wave of immigration from across Europe , with many more immigrants arriving from Southern and Eastern Europe than in previous decades. Since the late 1970s, following the end of the White Australia policy in 1973, a large and continuing wave of immigration to Australia from around
2212-481: The 2016 census. Australia has no official religion; its Constitution prohibits the Commonwealth government, but not the states, from establishing one, or interfering with the freedom of religion . At the 2021 Census, 38.9% of the population identified as having "no religion" , up from 15.5% in 2001. The largest religion is Christianity (43.9% of the population). The largest Christian denominations are
2291-528: The 2021 Census. Germans formed the largest non-English-speaking group in Australia up to the 20th century. Although a few individuals had emigrated earlier, the first large group of Germans arrived in South Australia 1838, not long after the British colonisation of South Australia . Asian Australians are Australians with ancestry wholly or partially from the continent of Asia. At the 2021 census,
2370-541: The 2021 census finding 4.4% of the population claiming ancestry from Italy be they migrants to Australia or their descendants born in Australia of Italian heritage. Australia's long-history of Italian immigration has given rise to an Italo-Australian dialect of the Italian language. German Australians are Australians of German ancestry . The German community constitutes the second largest non-Anglo Celtic European ethnic group in Australia, amounting to 4% of respondents in
2449-575: The 2021 census, 3.2% of the Australian population identified as being Indigenous — Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders . Indigenous Australians experience higher than average rates of imprisonment and unemployment, lower levels of education, and life expectancies for males and females that are, respectively, 11 and 17 years lower than those of non-indigenous Australians. Some remote Indigenous communities have been described as having " failed state "-like conditions. In 2019, 30% of
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2528-598: The 2021 census, the most commonly nominated individual ancestries as a proportion of the total population were: European Australians are Australians of whose descent is wholly or partially European. Australians of European descent are the majority in Australia, with the number of ancestry responses categorised within the European groups as a proportion of the total population amounting to 57.2% (including 46% North-West European and 11.2% Southern and Eastern European ). The proportion of Australians with European ancestry
2607-468: The 20th century's hostile policies to the new generation of skilled professional migrants of the 21st century... India became the largest source of skilled migrants in the 21st century." Indigenous Australians are descendants of the original inhabitants of the Australian continent . Their ancestors are believed to have migrated from Africa to Asia around 70,000 years ago and arrived in Australia around 50,000 years ago. The Torres Strait Islanders are
2686-844: The Australian Government. By July 2000, Germany was the fifth most common birthplace for settler arrivals in Australia after United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy and New Zealand. By 1991, there were 112,000 German-born persons in Australia. The internment camps were maintained by the Australian Army during World War I. At the time, they were also described as concentration camps. Old prison buildings in Berrima and Trial Bay Gaol were initially used as locations for camps in New South Wales . The largest internment camp in WWI
2765-410: The Australian continent over time, the population expanded and differentiated into hundreds of distinct groups, each with its own language and culture. More than 400 distinct Australian Aboriginal peoples have been identified across the continent, distinguished by unique names designating their ancestral languages, dialects, or distinctive speech patterns. In 1770, fearing he had been pre-empted by
2844-691: The Australian population lived overseas, one of the lowest proportions worldwide. This ratio is much lower than many other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member developed countries ). The data in the table is sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics . The population estimates do not include the Aboriginal population before 1961. Estimates of Aboriginal population prior to European settlement range from 300,000 to one million, with archaeological finds indicating
2923-510: The Australian resident population, or 7,529,570 people, were born overseas. The following table shows Australia's population by country of birth as estimated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2021. It shows only countries or regions or birth with a population of over 100,000 residing in Australia (for more information about immigration see Immigration to Australia and Foreign-born population of Australia ): Although Australia has no official language, English has always been entrenched as
3002-485: The Constitutional framers considered the Commonwealth to be "a home for Australians and the British race alone", as well as a "Christian Commonwealth". Since the postwar period, Australia has pursued an official policy of multiculturalism and has the world's eighth-largest immigrant population, with immigrants accounting for 30 percent of the population in 2019. Between European colonisation in 1788 and
3081-514: The French, James Cook changed a hilltop signal-drill on Possession Island in Torres Strait , into a possession ceremony, fabricating Britain's claim of Australia's east coast. Eighteen years later, the east coast was occupied by Britain and later the west coast was also settled by Britain. At that time, the indigenous population was estimated to have been between 315,000 and 750,000. At
3160-522: The German language was spoken at home by 76,400 persons in Australia. German is the eighth most widely spoken language in the country after English, Chinese, Italian, Greek , Arabic , Vietnamese , Spanish, and Tagalog . The Australian wine industry was the creation of German settlers in the nineteenth century. The Goethe-Institut is active in Australia, there are branches in Melbourne and Sydney. The South Australian German Association has held
3239-750: The Holy Trinity Anglican Church designed by Edmund Blacket and built in 1849; and the St Francis Xavier Catholic Church built 1849–51 designed by Augustus Pugin , a notable British architect of Gothic-revival buildings. The Berrima Village Trust was established in 1963 to preserve historic buildings. Berrima was bypassed by a new section of the Hume Highway in March 1989. Berrima has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Berrima Court House
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3318-541: The Soviet Union. In addition to the Australian residents who were imprisoned, there were also people of German and Japanese descent who were captured overseas and brought to Australia. These people came from England, Palestine , Iran , present-day Singapore , Malaysia , Indonesia , New Zealand and New Caledonia . The first of these groups arrived on the HMT Dunera from England in 1940 and their destination
3397-697: The annual traditional Adelaide Schützenfest in Brooklyn Park Australia There are the following German international schools in Australia: Historically, German newspapers were set up by early settlers, with many being forced to close or merge due to labour shortages caused by the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s-1860s. A number of the earliest South Australian newspapers were printed primarily in German, and these included: The Special Broadcasting Service airs
3476-514: The area in 1814. The area was explored by Charles Throsby in 1818. Runs were taken up soon after, including by one by Charles Throsby. Harper's Mansion , which is on a hill overlooking the town, was built from 1829 to 1830. Bong Bong had been planned as a major town for the county but, as it was flood prone, the New South Wales surveyor-general Thomas Mitchell chose Berrima townsite on the road running south from Sydney to Goulburn with
3555-416: The army used Berrima Gaol as a German-prisoner internment camp. Most of the 329 internees were enemy aliens from shipping companies. There were German officers from Rabaul , German New Guinea (what is now Papua New Guinea ) and also officers from the light cruiser SMS Emden . The correctional centre was used most recently as an all-female low-to-medium security prison. In the 2011 NSW State Budget,
3634-566: The bay. They were moved to the Holsworthy internment camp near Sydney, now Holsworthy Barracks . After it became known that graves of the Allied forces in Germany had been vandalised, the internees' monument was destroyed. It was once again constructed in 1960 and now leads the way to the memorial site on the hill. Some Australians believed that the prisoners were being treated too well. However, they were under constant surveillance, their post
3713-600: The camps were at their largest, with a total of 12,000 internees in the country. In addition to British people of German origin, Australian fascists could not escape imprisonment: leading members of the Australia First Movement were interned, including Adela Pankhurst and P. R. Stephensen . German Australians constitute one of the largest ancestry groups in Australia, and German is the fifth most identified European ancestry in Australia behind English, Irish, Scottish and Italian. German Australians are one of
3792-511: The commencement of European settlement in 1788. At least seventy-three Germans arrived in Australia as convicts. Germans formed the largest non-English-speaking group in Australia up to the 20th century. Old Lutherans emigrated in response to the 1817 Prussian Union and organized churches both among themselves and with other German speakers, such as the Kavel-Fritzsche Synod . Although a few individuals had emigrated earlier,
3871-499: The court house in 1841, and the first trial by jury in the colony of New South Wales was held here. The assize courts were continued for only seven years. In 1850 the district court moved to Goulburn , south of Berrima. Minor courts continued at Berrima until 1873. Notable trials were of John Lynch , who was hanged for the murder of at least nine people, and of Lucretia Dunkley and her lover Martin Beech who were both hanged in 1843 for
3950-437: The door. In 1866 the gaol was renovated to the standards described by the prison reform movement for a "model prison". However, Berrima gaol had solitary confinement cells which measured 8 feet by 5 feet, some smaller, where it was intended that all prisoners spent one year. In 1877 a royal commission was held to investigate allegations of cruelty by the prison authorities but the complaints were not upheld. During World War I
4029-566: The end of 1914 until the end of 1915, housed 989 people in September 1915. Among this group were 841 Australian and Austrian internees, as well as 148 prisoners of war. According to a statement by the Australian War Memorial organisation, there were a total of 7,000 people interned over the course of World War I, including roughly 4,500 Germans and British people of German background who had already been living in Australia for
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#17328010072584108-461: The enemy. The camp was opened in August 1915 and at its peak contained as many as 580 men. The internees were held in solitary cells within the prison, with the exception of those with a high social or military rank, who were kept in cabins on the bay. The prisoners were free to swim, fish, and sunbathe on the beach or play tennis in the prison yard on a court they had built themselves. In 1916 they held
4187-694: The first Australian settlers came from London, the Midlands and the North of England , and Ireland. Settlers that arrived throughout the 19th century were from all parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland, a significant proportion of settlers came from the Southwest and Southeast of England, from Ireland and from Scotland. In 1888, 60 percent of the Australian population had been born in Australia, and almost all had British ancestral origins. Out of
4266-494: The first large group of Germans arrived in South Australia 1838, not long after the British colonisation of South Australia . These "Old Lutherans" were from Province of Brandenburg (then a Prussian province), and were trying to preserve their traditional faith. They emigrated with the financial assistance of George Fife Angas and the Emigration Fund. Not all subsequent arrivals shared this religious motivation, but
4345-455: The fourth-largest European ethnic group on the continent, behind the English, Irish and Scots. By 1914, the number of German-Australians (including the descendants of German-born migrants of the second and third generation who had become Australians by birth) was estimated at approximately 100,000. Throughout both world wars Australians of German ancestry were considered an "enemy within" and
4424-408: The intention that the town be the chief centre for southern New South Wales. The survey was conducted in 1830 and the town plan was approved in 1831. As well as its being an administrative centre, there were ambitions that the town might become a commercial and manufacturing centre, "where the wool of Argyle and Camden might be made into cloth and the hide into leather". The courthouse (see below)
4503-402: The internment camps. This was especially true for those living in northern Australia, because that was where the enemy was expected to invade. More than 20 percent of Italians in Australia were held in internment camps as well as a total of 7,000 people with connections to the enemy, 1,500 of which who were British nationals. 8,000 people from overseas were detained in Australian camps and in 1942,
4582-689: The largest groups within the global German diaspora . At the 2021 census, 1,026,135 respondents stated that they had German ancestry (whether alone or in combination with another ancestry), representing 4% of the total Australian population. At the 2021 census, there were 101,255 Australian residents who were born in Germany . At the 2021 census, states and territories with the largest numbers of residents nominating German ancestry were Queensland (309,723), New South Wales (242,546), Victoria (212,907), South Australia (135,225) and Western Australia (78,337). German Australians are therefore overrepresented on
4661-511: The largest immigrant groups during the post-war era. During the 1950s, Australia was the destination of 30 per cent of Dutch emigrants and the Netherlands-born became numerically the second largest non-British group in Australia. In 1971, 70 percent of the foreign born were of European origin. Italian Australians are Australians of Italian ancestry, and comprise the largest non Anglo-Celtic European ethnic group in Australia, with
4740-448: The largest non-British Isles ancestry for most of the 19th century. Between 1901 and 1940, 140,000 non-British European immigrants arrived in Australia (about 16 percent of the total intake). Before World War II, 13.6 percent were born overseas, and 80 percent of those were British. Following the Second World War , large numbers of continental Europeans immigrated to Australia, with Italian Australians and Greek Australians being among
4819-417: The majority of the population in Australia. The largest statistical grouping of European Australians are Anglo-Celtic Australians , Australians whose ancestors originate wholly or partially in the British Isles . This includes English Australians , Irish Australians , Scottish Australians and Welsh Australians . Anglo-Celtic Australians have been highly influential in shaping the nation's character. By
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#17328010072584898-427: The mid-1840s, the numbers of freeborn settlers had overtaken the convict population. Although some observers stress Australia's convict history, the vast majority of early settlers came of their own free will. Far more Australians are descended from assisted immigrants than from convicts, the majority of Colonial Era settlers being British and Irish. About 20 percent of Australians are descendants of convicts. Most of
4977-417: The murder of Dunkley's husband. Their trial is simulated in the present-day museum courtroom with realistic manikins and an audio commentary. Dunkley was the only woman to be hanged at Berrima gaol. Berrima Gaol was built over five years with much work done by convicts in irons. Conditions at the gaol were harsh, prisoners spent most of their days in cells and the only light was through a small grate set in
5056-559: The number of ancestry responses categorised within the Asian groups as a proportion of the total population amounted to 17.4% (including 6.5% Southern and Central Asian , 6.4% North-East Asian , and 4.5% South-East Asian ). This figure excludes Australians of Middle Eastern ancestry, who are separately categorised within the North African and Middle Eastern group. Chinese Australians are Australians of Chinese ancestry, forming
5135-424: The remaining 40 percent, 34 percent had been born in the British Isles , and 6 percent were of European origin, mainly from Germany and Scandinavia . The census of 1901 showed that 98 percent of Australians had Anglo-Celtic ancestral origins. In 1939 and 1945, still 98 percent of Australians had Anglo-Celtic ancestral origins. Until 1947, the vast majority of the population were of British origin. Germans formed
5214-562: The second-largest Asian Australian ancestry, comprising 3.1% of the total population. Indian Australians are one of the largest groups within the Indian diaspora. Indians are the youngest average age (34 years) and the fastest growing community both in terms of absolute numbers and percentages in Australia. Migration of Indians to Australia followed the pattern of "from 18th-century sepoys and lascars (soldiers and sailors) aboard visiting European ships, through 19th-century migrant labourers and
5293-621: The single largest non Anglo-Celtic ancestry in the country, constituting 5.5% of those nominating their ancestry at the 2021 census. Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups of Overseas Chinese people, forming the largest Overseas Chinese community in Oceania , and are the largest Asian-Australian community. Per capita , Australia has more people of Chinese ancestry than any country outside Asia. Many Chinese Australians have immigrated from Mainland China, Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan as well as Indonesia , Malaysia , Singapore and
5372-552: The time of first European contact, of which fewer than twenty are still in daily use by all age groups. About 110 others are spoken exclusively by older people. At the time of the 2006 census, 52,000 Indigenous Australians, representing 12% of the Indigenous population, reported that they spoke an Indigenous language at home. Australia has a sign language known as Auslan , which is the main language of about 10,112 deaf people who reported that they use Auslan language at home in
5451-539: The town in the 1840s. However, because the construction of the railway bypassed the town, the population decreased – no new houses were built for a hundred years. In 1896, Premier of New South Wales Henry Parkes , planted an oak tree near the post office. There are many historic buildings in the town and the village as a whole is listed on the Register of the National Estate. Other notable buildings include
5530-592: The traditions brought to the country by waves of immigration from around the world, and the culture of the United States . The Colony of New South Wales was established by the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1788, with the arrival of the First Fleet , and five other colonies were established in the 19th century, now forming the six present-day Australian states . Large-scale immigration occurred following
5609-407: The world has continued into the 21st century, with Asia now being the largest source of immigrants. A smaller proportion of Australians are descended from indigenous people , comprising Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders . The development of a distinctive Australian identity and national character began in the 19th century. The primary language is Australian English . Australia
5688-436: The world over, early Chinese immigrants to Australia established several Chinatowns in major cities, such as Sydney ( Chinatown, Sydney ), Melbourne ( Chinatown, Melbourne , since the 1850s) and Brisbane ( Chinatown, Brisbane ), Perth ( Chinatown, Perth ), as well as in regional towns associated with the goldfields such as Cairns ( Cairns Chinatown ). Indian Australians are Australians of Indian ancestry, and are
5767-485: Was also place of incarceration of 2,542 "enemy aliens" deported from Britain, composed of many of the Austrian and German nationals who were expelled in a blanket deportation, and numerous Italian citizens. Notorious for the inhumane treatment present during the voyage, the 2,053 anti-Nazis, 451 prisoners of war, and approximately 55 Nazi sympathisers and others departed from Liverpool via HMT Dunera shortly after
5846-420: Was built between 1833 and 1838. The gaol (see below) was built from 1835 by convict labour and opened in 1839. The Surveyor General Inn was built in 1834. It has been continuously licensed since 1839 and its claim to being the earliest hotel rests on its continual licence and being in the original building. Berrima prospered as being at a point on the Old Hume Highway , and there were fourteen hotels in or near
5925-438: Was built between 1836 and 1838. It was designed by the colonial architect Mortimer Lewis in a Roman style. Four Doric columns support a classical pediment . The building is now stylistically classified as Georgian . It is built of sandstone. A number of problems arose during construction, the first architect having resigned and a succession of three builders being contracted. The first quarter-sessions were held at
6004-471: Was censored and contact with the outside world (as well as contact with internees from other camps) was not allowed. Many internees from Western Australia were transported to camps in New South Wales, including the 193 German marines from the SMS Emden which had been defeated by HMAS Sydney . After the war ended, the camps were shut down and most of the occupants were deported, but German immigration
6083-524: Was only made legal again in 1925. The German population increased slowly as a result and eventually came to a halt in 1933 with Adolf Hitler 's rise to power . In World War I, the majority of internees were of German heritage. However, in World War II, a large number of Italians and Japanese were also imprisoned. The internees, which included women and children, had come from more than 30 different countries, including Finland, Hungary, Portugal and also
6162-610: Was the Hay Internment Camp in New South Wales. The internment camps in WWII were constructed for three reasons: residents could not be allowed to support Australia's enemies, the public needed to be placated, and those who had been captured overseas and transported to Australia had to be housed somewhere. All Japanese people were immediately imprisoned, but it was only after the war criminals of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy were discovered that Germans and Italians were sent to
6241-736: Was the Holsworthy Internment Camp , located west of Sydney. There were camps in Berrima; Bourke ; Holsworthy and Trial Bay (all New South Wales); Enoggera, Queensland ; Langwarrin, Victoria ; the Molonglo camp at Fyshwick, Australian Capital Territory ; Rottnest Island , Western Australia; and Torrens Island , South Australia. Smaller and temporary internment camps were also established on Bruny Island , Tasmania; Fort Largs , South Australia; and Garden Island , Western Australia. The camp on Rottnest Island, which operated from
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