Eight people stand infront of a desk. There are 6 men, one woman and a small boy. The woman is wearing a headscarf and carrying a shopping back and a handbag. One man is holding tickets/papers. Another man holds a passport.

McQuillan, Ern, 1926-2018. (2012). Turkish migrants arriving at Mascot Airport, Sydney, 15 November 1968 [picture] / Ern McQuillan. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138111798

A photograph of a large group of people seated in an auditorium. A balding man is standing at a microphone addressing the audience.

McQuillan, Ern, 1926-2018. (2012). Turkish migrants at the Villawood Migrant Hostel, New South Wales, 15 October 1968 [picture] / Ern McQuillan. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138111905

A man with a dark moustache and a white apron is carving meat from a revolving pile to be used for kebabs. He is inside a tent.

(1995). Fahrettin Hazar prepares Doner Kebab - Turkish Festival, Melbourne, 1995 [picture].  http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-143168840

Newspaper Resources

Dünya Turkish newspaper : Australian Turkish weekly newspaper

Mildura City Council Waste Management Pamphlet

Turkish Settlement in Australia

Migration to Australia from Turkey prior to the twentieth century was minimal. After World War I, any Turkish person in Australia was deemed an ‘enemy alien’. This, combined with the White Australia Policy and the Enemy Aliens Act, also limited Turkish migration for decades. Migration from Turkey began more formally in 1967 with government policy establishing an assisted migration scheme called an assisted passage agreement. This was the first of its type outside of Western Europe. Turkish food, much like many other migrating cultural culinary influences, has since become a popular mainstay of cafes and restaurants with baklava, doner, pide and meze amongst the favourites. The names of these items are recognisable in the Australian vernacular and are an example of language enculturation. 

Many cities and councils understand the importance of language to communities from non-English speaking backgrounds and many provide vital information to communities in English as well as other languages. Below is an example of a Turkish fact sheet from the Mildura City Council. A link to a longer document can be found under Newspaper Resources

A document showing which household items should be placed in which garbage bin. The list is sorted alphabetically and each item has a yellow, green, or red coloured square, indicating which bin it should go in. Red for trash, yellow for recycling and green for greenwaste. The list is written in Turkish

Mildura (Vic. : Rural City). Council. & Mildura (Vic. : Rural City). Council, issuing body.  (2020).  HANGİ KOVALAR? : Kovalarınızı kullanmak için Kılavuz.  [Mildura, Victoria] :  Mildura Rural City Council https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2963507733 https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2963507733-t

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.

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Cultural Notification

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website contains a range of material which may be considered culturally sensitive including the records of people who have passed away.

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