Papua New Guinean Australians

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Papua New Guinean Australians
Total population
2021 Census:
29,995 (by birth) [1]
22,664 (by ancestry) [2]
Regions with significant populations
Queensland 14,500
New South Wales 5,428
Victoria 2,534
Western Australia 1,763
Torres Strait Islands 365 (by ancestry), 148 (by birth) [3]
Languages
English  · Tok Pisin  · Motu
Religion
Christianity (Predominantly Roman Catholicism) ·Other

Papua New Guinean Australians (Tok Pisin : pipol bilong Papua Niugini long Ostrelia) are the citizens and residents of Australia (including the Torres Strait Islands, where 6.5% of all people claimed Papua New Guinean ancestry) [3] who were born in Papua New Guinea (PNG) or have Papua New Guinean ancestry.

Contents

Papua New Guinea was administered by Australia until 1975, formally divided into the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea (a League of Nations mandate). The indigenous peoples of Papua New Guinea were nonetheless subject to the White Australia policy, and only limited numbers were allowed to enter the rest of Australia – notably to work in the Queensland pearling industry. [4]

The number of Papua New Guineans in Australia is considered relatively small, given the countries are neighbours and PNG's status as a former Australian territory. Other Pacific island countries have much larger populations in Australia. At the time of the 2021 Australian census, there were 22,664 people of Papua New Guinean descent in Australia and 29,995 Papua New Guinea-born people residing in the country. The gap between the two figures reflects the fact that many of those born in PNG were the children of Australian expatriates; only 8,752 (less than one-third) of Australian residents born in PNG reported that they were of Papua New Guinean ancestry. [5]

Notable PNG-Australians

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papua New Guinea</span> Country in Oceania

Papua New Guinea is a country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia. Officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, it shares its only land border with Indonesia to the west and it is directly adjacent to Australia to the south and the Solomon Islands to the east. Its capital, located along its southeastern coast, is Port Moresby. The country is the world's third largest island country, with an area of 462,840 km2 (178,700 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Australia</span>

The population of Australia is estimated to be 26,979,000 as of 20 January 2024. Australia is the 55th most populous country in the world and the most populous Oceanian country. Its population is concentrated mainly in urban areas, particularly on the Eastern, South Eastern and Southern seaboards, and is expected to exceed 30 million by 2029.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torres Strait Islands</span> Group of islands in the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea

The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of 48,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi), but their total land area is 566 km2 (219 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torres Strait Islanders</span> Ethnic group of Australia

Torres Strait Islanders are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal peoples of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped with them as Indigenous Australians. Today there are many more Torres Strait Islander people living in mainland Australia than on the Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boigu Island (Queensland)</span> Suburb of Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia

Boigu Island is the most northerly inhabited island of Queensland and of Australia. It is part of the Top Western group of the Torres Strait Islands, which lie in the Torres Strait separating Cape York Peninsula from the island of New Guinea. The mainland of Papua New Guinea is only 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away from Boigu. Boigu has an area of 89.6 square kilometres (34.6 sq mi). Boigu Island is the name of the locality on the island within the Torres Strait Island Region. Boigu is predominantly inhabited by indigenous Torres Strait Islanders. In the 2021 census, the population of the island was 199, of whom 189 people or 95% of the population identified as Indigenous Australians.

The indigenous peoples of Oceania are Aboriginal Australians, Papuans, and Austronesians. These indigenous peoples have a historical continuity with pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories. With the notable exceptions of Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, New Caledonia, Guam, and Northern Mariana Islands, indigenous peoples make up the majority of the populations of Oceania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aboriginal Australians</span> First Nations people of Australia

Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, but excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. The term "Indigenous Australians" is applied to Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders collectively.

The languages of Australia are the major historic and current languages used in Australia and its offshore islands. Over 250 Australian Aboriginal languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact. English is the majority language of Australia today. Although English has no official legal status, it is the de facto official and 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saibai Island</span> Suburb of Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia

Saibai Island, commonly called Saibai, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago, located in the Torres Strait of Queensland, Australia. The island is situated north of the Australian mainland and south of the island of New Guinea. The island is a locality within the Torres Strait Island Region local government area. The town of Saibai is located on the north-west coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, Saibai Island had a population of 465 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meriam language</span> Trans-Fly language of the Australian Torres Strait Islands

Meriam or the Eastern Torres Strait language is the language of the people of the small islands of Mer, Waier and Dauar, Erub, and Ugar in the eastern Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. In the Western Torres Strait language, Kalaw Lagaw Ya, it is called Mœyam or Mœyamau Ya. It is the only Papuan language in Australian territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Sydney</span>

Sydney is Australia's most populous city, and is also the most populous city in Oceania. In the 2021 census, 5,231,147 persons declared themselves as residents of the Sydney Statistical Division–about one-fifth (20.58%) of Australia's total population. With a population density of 2037 people per square kilometre, the urban core has population density five times that of the greater region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shire of Torres</span> Local government area in Queensland, Australia

The Shire of Torres is a local government area located in Far North Queensland, Australia, covering large sections of the Torres Strait Islands and the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula north of 11°S latitude. It holds two distinctions—it is the northernmost Local Government Area in Australia, and is the only one to abut an international border – it is at one point just 73 kilometres (45 mi) from Papua New Guinea. It is administered from Thursday Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australians</span> Citizens of Australia

Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several of 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australia–Papua New Guinea relations</span> Bilateral relations

Foreign relations exist between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is Australia's closest neighbour and a former colony of Australia. Both nations share the same continent in the Oceania region. Papua New Guinea has developed much closer relations with Australia than with Indonesia, the only country with which it shares a land border. The two countries are Commonwealth realms. In contemporary times, Papua New Guinea is one of the largest recipients of Australian aid. Some critics have pointed to instances where this has led to an outsized Australian influence on Papua New Guinea politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australia (continent)</span> One of Earths seven main divisions of land

The continent of Australia, sometimes known in technical contexts by the names Sahul, Australia-New Guinea, Australinea, or Meganesia to distinguish it from the country of Australia, is located within the Southern and Eastern hemispheres. The continent includes mainland Australia, Tasmania, the island of New Guinea, the Aru Islands, the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, most of the Coral Sea Islands, and some other nearby islands. Situated in the geographical region of Oceania, Australia is the smallest of the seven traditional continents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bramble Cay</span> Island in Queensland, Australia

Bramble Cay, also known as Maizab Kaur and Massaramcoer, is a small cay located at the northeastern edge of Australia and the Torres Strait Islands of Queensland and at the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef. Lying around 50 km (31 mi) north of Erub Island in the Gulf of Papua, it is the northernmost point of land of Australia and marks the end of the Great Barrier Reef.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dauan Island</span> Town in Queensland, Australia

Dauan Island is an island in the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia; it is also known as Cornwallis Island. Dauan Island is also a town and locality in the Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclone Trevor</span> 2019 Australia tropical cyclone

Severe Tropical Cyclone Trevor was a powerful and large tropical cyclone that caused major damages across Papua New Guinea, Northern Territory and Queensland during March 2019. The twentieth tropical low, seventh tropical cyclone, and fourth severe tropical cyclone of the 2018-19 Australian region cyclone season, Trevor originated from a tropical low that formed to the east of Papua New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indonesia–Papua New Guinea border</span> International border

The Indonesia–Papua New Guinea border is the international border between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The border, which divides the island of New Guinea in half, consists of two straight north–south lines connected by a short section running along the Fly river, totalling 824 km (512 mi). The boundary separates Papua, Highland Papua, and South Papua provinces of Indonesia from Sandaun and Western provinces of Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinean New Zealanders are Papua New Guineans, or people of Papua New Guinean descent, who are also citizens and residents of New Zealand.

References

  1. "Birthplace | Australia | Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  2. "Ancestry | Australia | Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  3. 1 2 "2016 Torres Strait Islands, Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics".
  4. "History of immigration from Papua New Guinea". Museum Victoria. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  5. Wolters, Ted (17 March 2016). "Australia-PNG relations: Decades of missed opportunities". The Interpreter. Lowy Institute . Retrieved 23 March 2019.