Chilean Australian

Chilean Australian

Notable Chilean Australians: from left to right: Chris Watson, Peggy Antonio
Total population
Chilean 25,439 (by ancestry, 2006) [1] 23,305 (by birth, 2006).[2]
Regions with significant populations
Sydney (2006 est.) 10,909 Melbourne (2006 est.) 6,530
Languages
English and Spanish
Religion
Roman Catholic, Christian, Protestantism
Related ethnic groups
Europeans, Chile, South American

Chilean Australians are residents of Australia whose ancestry originates in the South American nation of Chile. In Australia, Chileans are the biggest Latin American group residing in the nation. The biggest Chilean Australian communities are primarily found in Sydney and Melbourne. With one out of three Chileans living in the western suburbs of Sydney.^[3] Despite the small size of the Chilean community, they are held as examples of successful integration into Australia.^{[citation needed]}

Demography

According to the 2006 Australian Census, 23,305 Australians were born in Chile^[2] while 25,439 claimed Chilean ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry.^[1] However the ancestry figure may not accurately represent the Chilean-Australian population, since persons of Chilean descent often chose to identify with other, sometimes older ancestries. The Australian 2001 Census reports that 63% of Chilean-born respondents nominated their leading ancestry as Chilean, while others nominated a Spanish (19%), German (8%), Italian (6%) or English (4%) ancestry.^[4] In Chile the majority of Chileans are mestizos, having both roots in the Americas and European ancestry.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

According to demographer James Jupp the total number of persons born in Chile and their children born in Australia could have approached 40,000 in 2001, but he noted we do not have accurate figures.^[3] One 2006 estimate of Chilean-Australians, including third-generation, is as high as 45,000.^[10]

The largest Chilean Australian communities were in Sydney (10,909, 2006 Census result)^[11] and Melbourne (6,530).^[12]

A Chilean government study conducted by the Chilean National Institute of Statistics in 2003-04 and published in 2005 found that 33,626 first and second generation Chileans were living in Australia. This figure was gathered by combining the population reported in the 2001 Australian Census and the National Registry for Chileans living abroad.^[13][14][15]

History

In 1837 two Chileans arrived in Sydney, the first on record in Australia. One was former Chilean President Ramón Freire, exiled from Chile after attempting to re-take power in a coup. He did not settle in Australia, however, but eventually returned to his homeland.^[16] Chilean migration to Australia occurred at different times from the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century. The first Labour Party Prime Minister of Australia, Chris Watson, was born in Valparaíso, Chile the son of a Chilean citizen of German descent.^[17] Chilean people first arrived in great numbers in late 1970s and 1980s. Many came seeking work, skills and education after the economic crisis in Chile. Migration studies demonstrate that late 20th century Chilean migration to Australia occurred in three distinguishable waves.^[10] In the 1960s, especially between the years 1968-70, around 1,500-2,000 Chileans arrived in Australia as a consequence of the economic recession produced during the government of Eduardo Frei Montalva, and the high level of unemployment at the termination of his administration. The majority of these people were middle class and well educated, and their migration can be seen to have an economic basis.

The second significant group to arrive was likely motivated by the presidential election of Salvador Allende in 1970. Allende was the world's first democratically-elected Marxist President of any nation.^[18] His ascension to the presidency provoked a high level of uncertainty amongst the wealthy, given his stated platform of nationalisation of mining, industry, and services. The political and economic unrest that followed prompted many Chileans to flee the threat of political and social instability. This group was, again, overwhelmingly middle class, with sufficient resources (education and finance) to establish themselves as small business operators within Australia. By 1971, 3,760 Chilean-born people were registered in Australia. Current Chilean president Michelle Bachelet briefly lived in Australia with family already present in the country after the Chilean coup of 1973 later moving to East Germany.^[19][20]

The third distinguishable wave of immigration to Australia was the greatest in number, and was characterised in large part by those Chileans fleeing their homeland as a consequence of political events following the 1973 military coup.

This wave of Chilean migrants was quite homogeneous, comprised in the majority by skilled workers, and at times, their families. The middle class were represented only in the minority here. Political elitists and intellectuals from the left were also small in numbers, due to their preference for Western Europe and socialist nations in Latin America.

Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship over Chile lasted until 1990, during which time more than 500,000 Chileans fled the country,^[21] 21,029 of whom sought sanctuary in Australia.

List of notable Chilean Australians

See also

• Hispanic
• Latino
• Latin American Australian

References

v • d • e Latin American Australians Middle American Mexican · Salvadoran South American Argentinian · Brazilian · Chilean · Colombian · Peruvian · Uruguayan

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