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Migration and immigration

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Three leatherbound diaries from the nineteenth century, one open showing neat handwriting
Starting a new life in Australia: Nineteenth century diaries of migrants from the United Kingdom

Explore handwritten diaries that can now be read online.

Blog
Blue and yellow poster with a stylised photo of a group of young women, and text reading 'We are proud to be wogs!'

A Girls in Print Project designed & printed by Ethnic Girls School-leavers, We are proud to be Wogs!, 1983, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn5016725

Reclaiming a slur and celebrating culture

Learn about a poster featured in our Hopes and Fears exhibition, and how the creators made it to reclaim a derogatory word and celebrate their heritage.

Blog
Three framed photographs on a blue wall with a subtle wave pattern.
Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories

Explore the journeys that have shaped our nation’s history in this exhibition.

Exhibition
Hanho Times newspapers spread over a table, with focus on the 3-year anniversary issue
Now online: South Korean community newspaper the Hanho Times

See some of the stories contained in the Hanho Times Korean community newsletter.

Blog
Woman with curly hair standing in front of a wall of framed family photos in the Hopes and Fears exhibition
The family mantlepiece

Learn about the mantlepiece display at the entrance to our Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition.

Blog
Collection guide
York Collection

About 140 oral history interviews, the majority for his Maltese-Australian and Polish-Australian folklore and social history projects. Personal papers of York plus papers of the historian Michael Cigler. Also a large quantity of Maltese newspapers, student newspapers, radical pamphlets and ephemera.

Collection guide
Broadside with text reading 'New Colony of South Australia. A Bill having been brought into Parliament under the Sanction of His Majesty's Government for funding a Colony of South Australia. A public meeting will be held in the Great Room at Exeter Hall strand, on Monday next'

South Australian Association, issuing body, New colony of South Australia : a bill having been brought into parliament under the sanction of His Majesty's government for founding a colony in South Australia, 1834, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3461873066

Rare broadsides announcing the formation of South Australia

Learn about two broadsides recently added to our collection. 

News article
Scrapbook of newspaper clippings, including one full page and a cartoon, about the Gamboa family

Album of newspaper cuttings relating to the Gamboa family from the Papers of the Gamboa family, 1949–99, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn997866

Gamboa: A family defined by race

Follow the story of Lorenzo Gamboa and his fight to return to his Australian-born wife and children after his deportation in 1946. 

Blog
Two boats with rope hanging between them filled with men, women and children coming from Vietnam

Michael Jensen, Vietnamese boat people, Darwin, 1977, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-149648567

Australian migration

Module

Discover how migration has shaped Australia’s diverse identity through stories from the first colonies, the gold rush, refugees and more in this learning module.

Digital Classroom
Text from an old newspaper that reads 'The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots. A True Story of Slavery, Showing That Brutality is inseparable from Slavery, That the Constitution of the United States of America is the Bulwark of American Slavery, That the only hope of abolition of Slavery is in separation from the Union. By a Fugitive Slave.'

THE UNITED STATES GOVERNED BY SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND DESPOTS., Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), 25 April 1855, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60178733

Rediscovering the firsthand account of a fugitive slave

Find out how a powerful newspaper article written in 1855 by a fugitive slave was re-published into a book and added to our collection.

News article
A black and white image of an asult and three children standing by the side of the road with an old fashioned car parked near them. The Sydney Opera House is in the background.

Sonia Di Mezza as a baby with Guido, Joseph and Anna Di Mezza under the Harbour Bridge, c.1972 or 1973, courtesy Sonia Di Mezza

Building our nation: How migrants and their children have shaped Australia

Sonia Di Mezza, CEO of the Migrant and Refugee Settlement Services (MARSS) in Canberra, discussed how Australia was and is strengthened by migrants, and how important cultural diversity and inclusion is to modern day Australia.

Event
Video
A sample of an emigration pass. It says 'Colonial Emigration Form, Man's Emigration Pass' with signatures and handwritten information.
Indian emigration passes to Fiji 1879 - 1916

Find out how to access over 60,000 passes issued to Indian people who came to Fiji as indentured labourers.

Research guide

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