Australia is an attractive migration destination because of its temperate weather on most of the East coast. All four seasons can be found on the Australian east coast region. With the tropical climate in the Northern region as well as the snowy blue mountains in the South.
The first migrants were decidedly involuntary, the convicts transported from Britain, Ireland and, to a lesser degree, other British colonies. Altogether 80,000 arrived in New South Wales between 1788 and 1840.
The five largest foreign-born groups in Australia, including those from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Italy, Vietnam, and China, account for 46 percent of the total immigrant population. The immigrant populations of both Australia and the United States are dominated by a single foreign-born group.
The increase in the number of Chinese-born in Australia particularly occurred since 2006. Of the 3.3 million migrants who came to Australia between 2006 and 2021, over one quarter (27.1%) were born in China or India.
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 islands were settled by different seafaring Melanesian cultures such as the Torres Strait Islanders over 2500 years ago, and cultural interactions continued via this route with the Aboriginal people of northeast Australia.
Convicts were no longer the major source of new arrivals to the colonies. With the discovery of gold in 1851 and a booming economy, people were now coming to Victoria and Australia by choice. People came from many countries, the majority from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, America, China and Germany.
The top 10 countries providing the most permanent migrants to Australia in order of rank for 2021–22 are: India People's Republic of China United Kingdom.
By the early 1850s, news of a gold rush in Australia had reached southern China, sparking an influx in Chinese migration to Australia. It is thought that approximately 7000 Chinese people came to work at the Araluen gold fields in southern NSW.
The temperate climate is a huge contributing factor that attracts many people from other developed countries, such as England, to migrate to Australia. Because Australia is located in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are inverted as well so you can experience a unique summery Christmas.
At 10 years old, Najeeba Wazefadost fled Afghanistan with her parents. She sought asylum from Australia by sea in September 2000. She spent several months in mandatory immigration detention before being recognised as a refugee.
Key statistics
For the year ending 30 June 2020: There were over 7.6 million migrants living in Australia. 29.8% of Australia's population were born overseas.
At the 2021 census, 1,390,637 Australian residents identified themselves as having Chinese ancestry, accounting for 5.5% of the total population.
At the 2021 census the states with the largest number of people nominating Indian ancestry were: New South Wales (350,770), Victoria (250,103), Queensland (93,648), Western Australia (77,357) and South Australia (43,598).
Chinese and Indian Australians, particularly second and third generation immigrants, are present in large numbers in Sydney and Melbourne, with Chinese Australians constituting Sydney's fourth largest ancestry group.
Islam has grown to 813,392 people, which is 3.2 per cent of the Australian population.