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Greek Australian
Alex Proyas Peter Andre Mark Philippoussis
Notable Greek Australians:
Alex Proyas, Peter Andre, Mark Philippoussis, Anthony Koutoufides
Total population

109,989 (Greek-born, 2006),
365,147 (Greek ancestry, 2006)
Regions with significant populations
Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane
Languages
Australian English, Greek, Languages of Greece
Religion
Predominantly Greek Orthodox

Greeks are the seventh-largest ethnic group in Australia, after those declaring their ancestry simply as "Australian". The 2006 census recorded 97,218 people of Greek Ancestry born in Greece and 18,381 in Cyprus,123 though it is uncertain how many of the latter are Greek Cypriots. A total of 365,147 persons declared having Greek ancestry, either alone or in conjunction with another ethnicity.4 The Greek language is spoken at home by 252,222 Australian residents, a 4.125% decrease from the 2001 census data. Greek is the third most spoken language (other than English) in Australia behind Chinese and Italian.5

Contents

History

Each dot denotes 100 Greek-born Sydney residents
Each dot denotes 100 Greek-born Melbourne residents

The first Greek migrants to Australia were seven convict sailors convicted of piracy by a British naval court in 1829 and sent to serve out their terms in New South Wales. Though eventually pardoned, two of the seven settled in the country. Groups of Greeks first settled in significant numbers during the gold rushes of the 1850s. The 1901 census recorded 878 Greek-born, but this must surely omit a few hundred other ethnic Greek migrants from the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere. The expulsion of Greeks from Asia Minor in 1922-23 led to further Greek migration to Australia, primarily to New South Wales. These Greeks are difficult to trace but the number of Greeks from Greece proper had risen to 12,291 by the time of the 1947 census.

Greeks – alongside Italians – were one of the main groups targeted by Australian Government migration schemes in the 1950s and 1960s. By 1971 there were 160,200 Greek-born persons in Australia, and smaller numbers from Cyprus and Egypt. Today, just under half of the Greek-born (49.6%) live in Victoria, with a further third in New South Wales (31.7%). In comparison, only 24.7% of Australians as a whole live in Victoria, underlining the density of the Greek presence there.

Greek Australians have an exceptionally high rate of return migration to Greece. In December 2001, the Department of Foreign Affairs estimated that there were 135,000 Australian citizens resident in Greece. These must mostly be returned Greek emigrants with Australian citizenship, and their Greek Australian children.

According to census data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2004, Greek Australians are mainly Greek Orthodox (Eastern Orthodox Church) by religion. Smaller minorities include 5.2% Catholic, 2.9% Anglican, 1.3% Other Religions, and 7.1% No Religion.

In 2001, the Greek language was spoken at home by 263,717 persons in Australia. Greek is the fourth most widely spoken language in the country after English, the Chinese languages, and Italian. 50.9% of Greek speakers in Australia were born there, the third highest proportion after indigenous Australian languages and English.

List of notable Greek Australians

Business

Sports

Directors

Entertainment

Fashion

Journalists

Musicians

Politics

Writers

Other

Miscellaneous topics

References

  1. ^ 2006 Census Table: Country of Birth of Person by Sex - Time Series Statistics (1996, 2001, 2006 Census Years)
  2. ^ 2006 Census Table: Country of Birth of Person (full classification list) by Sex
  3. ^ Ethnic Media Package
  4. ^ 2006 Census Table: Ancestry by Country of Birth of Parents - Time Series Statistics (2001, 2006 Census Years)
  5. ^ 2006 Census Table: Language Spoken at Home by Sex - Time Series Statistics (1996, 2001, 2006 Census Years)
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Ethnic groups in Australia
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(according to 2006 Australian census data: 20680 -Ancestry by Country of Birth of Parents)
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