Title of Proposal:
The New Australians
Logline:
none yet...

Synopsis:

The New Australians is a television documentary series about immigrants who have come to Australia from all over the world to start a new life. A relatively new country by Western standards, Australia has seen the arrival of millions of people over the past fifty years.

Since 1945, around 6.5 million people have come to Australia as new settlers. Their contribution to Australian society, culture and prosperity has been an important factor in shaping the country and this will be reflected in our documentary series.

A large-scale program of migration to Australia began at the end of World War 11 when millions of people in Europe were displaced from their homelands. At the same time, in Australia, there was a desperate shortage of labour and a growing belief that substantial population growth was essential for the country’s future.

By 1947, a post-war immigration boom was under way, with a large and growing number of arrivals including those on government – assisted passage. Agreements were reached with the United Kingdom, some European countries and the International Refugee Organisation (IRO) to encourage migrants, including displaced persons from war-torn Europe, to come to Australia. By 1950, almost 200,000 people had arrived.

A million more migrants arrived in each of the following four decades. Today, nearly one in four of Australia’s more than 20 million population were born overseas. New Zealand and the United Kingdom are the largest countries for migrants, but other regions – notably Asia have become more significant.

The make-up of Australia’s population has changed dramatically during the past 200 years. It has gone from an almost total Aboriginal population to predominantly Anglo-Celtic (by 1900) and on to its present mix of about 74 percent Anglo-Celtic, 19 percent other European and 4.5 per cent Asian.

People from around 185 different countries have made Australia their home. This is the story of some of these New Australians.