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Peruvians began settling in Australia in the late 1800s, with the 1901 census indicating just under 30 Peruvians in the country at the time. Migration from Peru to Australia remained low until the mid-1980s when the number of emigrants grew significantly. This coincided with political and economic unrest in the country at the time (see Politico-Economic Changes and Internal Conflict in Core Concepts). Arrivals have continued to rise in the 21st century, with 28% of the Peru-born population arriving in Australia between 2001 to 2010, and 16.6% arriving between 2016 to 2021.¹

Migration pathways are generally only available to Peruvians from metropolitan areas who hold higher education qualifications, generally from the middle and upper class. Most arrive on skilled migrant visas or student visas. For example, the top three responses for occupation according to the 2021 census were professional occupations (25.2%), community and personal service occupations (16.0%), and clerical and administrative occupations (13.3%).¹ Moreover, as of 2024, approximately 2,188 Peruvian students are currently in Australia.²

Of the total Peru-born in Australia, 65.9% identify as Roman Catholic and 80.1% speak Spanish at home.¹ Although Peruvian migration has not been as large as that of other South American communities (such as Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Chile), the Peruvian community still flourishes through various social, cultural and sporting associations as well as broader Latin American community groups.