Maltese Australians
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (Maltese 41,274 (by birth, 2011 Census) 163,990 (by ancestry, 2011 Census)) |
|
| Languages | |
| English · Maltese · Italian | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Maltese in the United Kingdom · Maltese Americans · Maltese Gibraltarians |
Maltese Australians are Australian citizens who are fully or partially of Maltese descent or Malta-born people who reside in Australia. While most of them emigrated to Australia from Malta, a number emigrated from the United Kingdom where they had settled after having been expelled from Egypt, as holders of British passports, during the Suez Crisis. According to the 2011 Census, there were 163,990 people of Maltese descent in Australia and 41,274 Malta-born people residing in the country at the moment of the census, having a fall of 5.6 per cent compared to the 2006 Census. The largest Malta-born community in Australia is in the state of Victoria, with 19,730 people.
The first Maltese to come to Australia arrived as convicts around 1810. The first Maltese immigrant (as opposed to convict or bonded servant) is thought to have been Antonio Azzopardi who arrived in 1838. Many attempts were made at organised mass migration throughout the 19th century but it was only in 1883 the first group of 70 labourers (and nine stowaways) arrived.
Group and mass migration gradually picked up, first, to Queensland and, after World War I, to Sydney whose automobile industry drew many. Immigration was not without difficulty as Maltese workers tended to be looked down upon and restrictions and quotas were applied. A significant percentage of the Maltese immigrants had intended to stay only temporarily for work but many settled in Australia permanently. Maltese immigration to Australia reached its peak during the 1960s. The majority of Maltese immigrants reside in Melbourne's western suburbs of Sunshine (especially on Glengala Rd) and St Albans, and in Sydney's western suburbs of Greystanes and Horsley Park. The Maltese, as in their home country, are predominantly Roman Catholic.
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