Greek Settlement in Australia

While significant numbers of Greek migrants arrived during the gold rush, the greatest numbers arrived in the years between World War II and the 1970s. The 2011 census shows almost 80 per cent of Greek-born Australian residents arrived before 1971. Hence the Greek-born population in Australian now has a median age over 71.

The Greek cafe, milk bar and other Greek speciality food outlets became popular landmarks in many towns and cities in the first 60 years of the twentieth century in Australia. Dozens of Greek outlets of this nature could be found in Australia’s cities. An example of a popular name was the Niagara Cafe and the restoration of the last authentic Greek cafe in rural Gundagai was recently completed. The Niagara was a classic example of a Greek cafe in a rural town. It was established in 1902 by a Kytherian Greek, Strati Notara.

Activities:

  • Have students write an article about a mystery (real or imagined). Use this exercise to make students consider writing style and tone. Students will need to demonstrate a range of writing and grammatical styles and consider the tone of the article, the audience and the purpose of the article.
  • Discuss the ways different language newspapers might be affected by the delivery of information from the land of origin.
  • Explore the articles and content of the newspaper resources linked above.