Papua New Guineans in Australia
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It is believed that the first Papua New Guinean visitors to Australia were most likely sponsored by missionaries or were a part of boat crews arriving prior to 1870. Subsequent Papua New Guinea-born arrivals were labourers, recruited to work in the Queensland sugar industry. While most indentured labourers returned to Papua New Guinea, some stayed and became part of the Papua New Guinean community in Queensland.
In the early 20th century, the restricted Papua New Guinea-born to migrate to Australia. Over the first half of the 20th century, the Papua New Guinea-born population in Australia remained small. With the relaxation of the White Australia Policy in the 1960s, there was a steady increase of Papua New Guineans.1 In recent decades, the Papua New Guinean-born population in Australia has seen slight influxes and decreases in migration flows. According to the 2021 census, 29,984 people were born in Papua New Guinea.2 Some of whom are students who visit Australia each year to study,3 and some as part of the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme.4
Unlike in Papua New Guinea where the vast majority identify as Christian, 26.3% of Australia's Papua New Guinean population identified as having no religion while 27.2% identified as Roman Catholic, 9.4% as Anglican, and 9.0% as Uniting Church.2 Just over two-thirds (68%) of those born in Papua New Guinea 15 years and older participate in the labour force, with 25% working in professional occupations, 14% as clerical and administrative workers, 13.8% as managers and 13.5% as community and personal service workers.2