Australia is a very multicultural society. As a relatively new country in terms of its settlement by an international population it has been reliant on immigration to build its population, and help it become the profitable civilization it is today. Since 1945 over six million people have come to Australia to live. The Australian continent is very old, but its recorded history is only very recent. It is believed that the earliest human population arrived over 50 000 years ago when Australia's Indigenous tribes migrated from an unknown region of Asia.
European exploration of Australia began in 1606 when a Spanish navigator sailed through the Torres Strait, which separates Australia from Papua New Guinea. He was soon followed by Dutch, French and English explorers who began to map the continent.
The British settlement of Australia began in 1788. From this time on people started migrating, at the start mainly from the UK and then from the rest of the world. The gold rush era, which was from 1851 to 1860, caused an early migration boom and started the international arrivals, attracting many Chinese migrants. Further on in the 19th century Afghan camel drivers and Japanese divers also started to arrive to work in the camel and pearl industries.After World War II, Australia formed many agreements with other governments to allow people to relocate to Australia. There were many takers due to the harsh conditions being experienced around the world at this time. This helped the government achieve their high migration targets. These agreements have since ended.
Since then the countries who have been the source of the highest rates of migration have varied, generally depending on world events. The current migration process is open to all countries, with the same criteria being used to judge all applicants.
The importance of migration into Australia is still recognised due to the benefits of the skills and expertise that are bought into the country, and also to keep population numbers up. Australia is proud of its multicultural society and enjoys the diversity of cultures that ongoing migration from around the world provides.
Australia is a secular country, meaning that there is no official religion. You can choose to practise any religion you wish. The capital cities have places of worship for religions from around the world.
Australia also welcomes international students and is proud of its strong reputation in the education field.Migration details sourced from the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs website, Factsheet 4, 'More than Fifty Years of Post-war Migration, viewed 31 August.
