Population

After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, many Vietnamese fled their country in overcrowded boats. They were known as 'boat people',¹ fleeing from Vietnam because they did not want to live under the communist rule and experience the aftermath of the war (see environment).

It is estimated that 2 million boat people travelled down the South China Sea in search for a new home. While some made it as far as Australia, others were less fortunate, spending years in refugee camps to be located to a third-world country, whilst others may have even died on their way. The conditions in the small boats were dangerous; pirates would often attack the ships, steal what they could, and murder the refugees.²

On April 26, 1976, the first refugees sailed into Darwin Harbour.³ These were the first of the 94,400 refugees that were to arrive in the next ten years.⁴ 2,000 of these refugees came by boat and the others were from refugee camps across Asia, selected by Australian officials to travel in by plane. For a nation who had not long ago held the White Australia Policy, accepting such a large number of refugees was undoubtedly significant in our country's history.

The White Australia Policy was formed in 1901, following the Federation of Australia.⁵ The Act allowed for officials to test all non-Europeans in a 50-word dictation test. This allowed for officials to discriminate against migrants, as they could test them any European language, and from 1905 in any language.⁶ A White Australia was seen as ideal, with a white, male and skilled labour force. Australia saw itself as "more advanced than all other races, especially morally and intellectually."⁷

The Vietnam War was an extremely significant turning point in Australia's population. Australia is now home to 262,910 Vietnamese-born Australians, which makes up 1 percent of Australia's whole population.⁸ As a result of the Vietnam War, Australia now takes in more refugees than ever, granting 14,993 refugees refugee status in 2019.⁹