Slovene Australians
Ethnic group
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Slovene Australians are Australian citizens who are fully or partially of Slovene descent or Slovenia-born people who reside in Australia.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 21,341 (By ancestry, 2021) 5,076 (Slovenian-born in 2021) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Primarily New South Wales | |
| Languages | |
| Australian English · Slovene | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (Catholic (4,114), Eastern Orthodox (92))[1] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Slovene Americans, Slovene Canadians |
History
Central European people called Slovenians began migrating to Australia in the mid-nineteenth century.[2] Until the 1900s, there was only a small number of Slovenian immigrants to Australia. The largest number of Slovenians migrated to Australia after World Wars One and Two.[3] The exact number who came after WW1 is impossible to determine because Slovenians were often classified as Austrians.
A lot of Slovenian Axis collaborators and their families migrated to Australia after World War II, fleeing persecution by the post-war socialist government of Josip Broz Tito.[3]
Demographics
Numbers
In the 2001 Australian Census, 14,189 Australians declared that they were of Slovenian origin. In the 2006 Australian Census, 16,093 Australians declared that they were of Slovenian origin.[4] Because many Slovenians came from the Austro-Hungarian Empire they identified themselves as Austrians.
Distribution
According to the 2016 Australian Census, there were 5,557 Slovenian-born people living in the country. The majority of them lived in either Victoria (2,172 or 39.1%) or New South Wales (1,773 or 31.9%).[5]
Notable individuals
- Paula Gruden - poet, translator and editor
- Tanya Plibersek - politician
- Lyenko Urbanchich - political activist
- Aurelio Vidmar - former football player and football manager
- Tony Vidmar - former football player and football manager
- Mitchell Starc - cricket player
- Milan Faletic - football player
- Dana Faletic - olympic athlete
- Damian Mori - former football player and assistant coach
- Ivan Rijavec - architect
- Dayne Zorko - football player
- Stan Rapotec - artist
- Misha Lajovic - politician
- Dušan Brešan - comics artist, illustrator and animator
