Australia Immigration

Australian people arrived here by boat from South East Asia at least 50,000 years ago. The European explorers sailed the coast of Australia, after then known as New Holland, in the 17th century. it wasn’t until 1770 that Captain James Cook chartered the east coast and claimed it for Britain. While free settlers began to flow in from the early 1790s, life for prisoners was harsh. The Aboriginal people displaced by the new settlement suffered even more. The dispossession of land and illness and death from introduced diseases disrupted traditional lifestyles and practices. The Gold was discovered in New South Wales and central Victoria in 1851.

Australia becomes a nation

Australia’s six states became a nation under a single constitution on 1 January 1901. One of the new national parliament’s first acts was to pass legislation, later known as the White Australia Policy, restricting migration to people of primarily European origin. This was dismantled progressively after the Second World War and today Australia is home to people from more than 200 countries.

Australians go to war

The First World War had a devastating effect on Australia. There were less than 3 million men in 1914, yet almost 400,000 of them volunteered to fight in the war. An estimated 60,000 died and tens of thousands were wounded. In reaction to the grief, the 1920s was a whirlwind of new cars and cinemas, American jazz and movies and fervour for the British Empire. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, social and economic divisions widened and many Australian financial institutions failed. Sport was the national distraction and sporting heroes such as the racehorse Phar Lap and cricketer Donald Bradman gained near-mythical status. During the Second World War, Australian forces made a significant contribution to the Allied victory in Europe, Asia and the Pacific. The generation that fought in the war and survived came out of it with a sense of pride in Australia’s capabilities.





	Australia's History Australian people arrived here by boat from South East Asia at least 50,000 years ago. The European explorers sailed the coast of Australia, after then known as New Holland, in the 17th century. it wasn’t until 1770 that Captain James Cook chartered the east coast and claimed it for Britain. While free settlers began to flow in from the early 1790s, life for prisoners was harsh. The Aboriginal people displaced by the new settlement suffered even more. The dispossession of land and illness and death from introduced diseases disrupted traditional lifestyles and practices. The Gold was discovered in New South Wales and central Victoria in 1851. Australia becomes a nation Australia’s six states became a nation under a single constitution on 1 January 1901. One of the new national parliament’s first acts was to pass legislation, later known as the White Australia Policy, restricting migration to people of primarily European origin. This was dismantled progressively after the Second World War and today Australia is home to people from more than 200 countries. Australians go to war The First World War had a devastating effect on Australia. There were less than 3 million men in 1914, yet almost 400,000 of them volunteered to fight in the war. An estimated 60,000 died and tens of thousands were wounded. In reaction to the grief, the 1920s was a whirlwind of new cars and cinemas, American jazz and movies and fervour for the British Empire. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, social and economic divisions widened and many Australian financial institutions failed. Sport was the national distraction and sporting heroes such as the racehorse Phar Lap and cricketer Donald Bradman gained near-mythical status. During the Second World War, Australian forces made a significant contribution to the Allied victory in Europe, Asia and the Pacific. The generation that fought in the war and survived came out of it with a sense of pride in Australia’s capabilities.

Australia's History

Australia becomes a nation

Australians go to war