Albanian Australian
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (13,142 (by ancestry) 2,398 (by birth).) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Melbourne · Shepparton · Mareeba | |
| Languages | |
| Albanian · Australian English | |
| Religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
|
Albanians Albanian diaspora |
Albanian Australians (Albanian: Shqiptarë Australian) are residents of Australia who are of Albanian heritage or descent.
According to the 2006 Australian census 2,014 Albanians were born in Australia while 11,315 claimed Albanian ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry.
According to the 2011 Australian census 2,398 Albanians were born in Australia while 13,142 claimed Albanian ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry.
The first recorded Albanian to settle in Australia was Naum Konxha who arrived in Brisbane in 1885 with his English wife and decided to stay permanently. The second Albanian, Spiro Jani from Himara, arrived in Queensland in 1908. Then Kristo Zafiri arrived from the Labëria region and Dhimitër Ikonomi from Dropull. They disembarked in 1913 from an English ship at Townsville. In 1914 Jan Konomi arrived and in 1920 Vasil and Thomas Kasneci.
As with others from the Balkans, the first major period of emigration to Australia followed the United States quota restrictions on Southern Europeans of 1924. Due to the White Australia Policy, many Muslims during the interwar period were precluded from migrating, while Albanian Muslims were accepted in Australia due to having a lighter European complexion. The Albanians arrival revived the Australian Muslim community whose aging demographics were until that time in decline. The Australian census did not record Albanians separately until 1933 when there were 770, the largest number living in Queensland. That number doubled by 1947 with the balance shifting to Victoria where it has remained. Albanians who arrived in the 1920s settled in rural areas and engaged in agriculture related employment, mainly fruit growing. As with other Southern European migrants, most Albanians who came to Australia in the 1920s were men. They became market gardeners, sugar cane workers, tobacco farmers and horticulturalists. The largest number arrived in 1928. Early settlements were made in Northam in Western Australia by Ismail Birangi and Sabri Sali, who later moved to Shepparton where they established their families with their friends Reshit Mehmet and Fethi Haxhi. Other Albanians from Western Australia moved to the goldfields in search of work, while others in the 1930s went mainly to Queensland and Victoria as they were economically hit hard by the 1929 Great Depression. Albanians also settled in Cairns, Melbourne, Brisbane and York. During this time some Albanians who had adequate finances sponsored family members from Albania to come to Australia.
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