Ukrainian Australians refers to Australian citizens of Ukrainian descent, or Ukraine-born people who emigrated to Australia. They are an ethnic minority in Australia, numbering about 38,000 people according to the 2011 Census. Currently, the main concentrations of Ukrainians are located in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne.
History
The Ukrainian Australian community in February 1964 commemorating 150 years from the birth of the poet Taras Shevchenko at Lidcombe Oval.
One of the first Ukrainian migrants to Australia was Mykhailo Hryb, who in the 1800s established a sheep farm.[2] A notable Ukrainian who visited Australia was Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay, an ethnographer and naturalist who came to Australia in 1878, and besides scientific and ethnographic studies, was responsible for the building of Australia's first biological field station at Watsons Bay in NSW.[3]
Prior to World War I, up to 5,000 Ukrainians migrated to Australia,[2] with some settling in communities in Brisbane. However, the main body of Ukrainians emigrated to Australia along with other nationalities in the post-World War II wave of refugees from Europe.[4] These refugees were called "displaced persons" and started arriving in 1948[4] as part of the International Refugee Organization resettlement agreement or on assisted passages[5] which included 2-year work contracts with the Australian Government. The 1947 Australian Census did not list Ukraine as a birthplace, though the 1954 Census recorded 14,757 as Ukraine-born.[2]
The number of migrants from Soviet Ukraine was minimal, though there was a limited migration of Ukrainians from communities in Poland and Yugoslavia.[2] In 1991 Ukraine gained independence, and over the next five years the Ukraine-born population increased for the first time in many decades, in Victoria from 2,937 in 1991 to 5,370 in 1996. Many of these new post-independence migrants were young professionals in the fields of science, mathematics and computer technology.[5]
According to the 2011 Census, today there is an active Ukrainian community of about 38,000 people, with most of them living in Melbourne and Sydney. There are active Ukrainian communities and centres in Geelong, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra, with smaller centres in Queanbeyan, Hobart, Newcastle, Moe, Albury-Wodonga, Northam and Noble Park.[3][6]
In March 2022, the Australian government granted temporary visas to approximately 5,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion of their country,[7][8] In total, Australia has granted 8,500 visas to Ukrainian refugees since the war started.[9]
Organisations
Ukrainian choir "Boyan" — director Vasyl Matiash (top row — centre), with the "Ukrainian Folk Ballet" — musical director and choreographer — Natalia Tyrawsky (top row — centre). Photo early 1970s, Sydney
The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations is the umbrella organisation that represents the Ukrainian community in Australia. Each State has a number of Ukrainian community associations, or hromadas. The Ukrainian Council of NSW represents the Ukrainian hromadas in New South Wales.
The Ukrainian community in Australia was very active in the formation of a variety of cultural organisations, including choirs, folk dancing groups, and arts organisations like the "Ukrainian Artists Society of Australia".[citation needed]
^ abAustralian Government - Department of Immigration and Border Protection. "Ukrainian Australians". Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
