Immigration has always been an important element in Australia’s nation building. Settlers started arriving in Australia from 1788.

An average of about 50 000 migrants arrived in Australia each year during the gold rush era in the mid–19th century. Migration to Australia continued in subsequent years, reflecting the economic and social conditions in Australia and elsewhere.

Most of the early migrants were from Britain and Ireland and their Anglo–Celtic heritage was the basis of the new nation.

At the end of World War II, millions of people in Europe were displaced from their homelands. At the same time, there was an acute shortage of labour in Australia and a growing belief that significant population growth was essential for the country’s future.

These and other factors led to the creation of a federal immigration department in 1945. The department, under various names, has existed continuously since then.
By 1947, an immigration boom was under way with a large and growing number of arrivals, including many who had arrived on government–assisted passages. Most of these migrants were from Europe, due to the ‘White Australia’ policy, which restricted migration from many parts of the world from Federation in 1901 until
the early 1970s.

Many of the 6.5 million people who have come to Australia since 1945 were motivated by a commitment to family, or a desire to escape poverty, war or persecution. They were determined to establish a new life for themselves and their families and were willing to work hard to make the most of their opportunities. For example, more than 100 000 migrants from 30 countries worked on the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a huge hydro–electric power generating project in Australia’s southern alps. The project took 25 years to complete, from 1949 until 1974.

By the mid–1970s, earlier restrictions on the entry of non–Europeans had been progressively removed and since then, Australia’s immigration policy has been non–discriminatory. An individual’s ethnic origin, sex, race or religion plays no part in determining their eligibility for a visa.