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Croatian Australians (Croatian: Australski Hrvati) are Australian citizens of Croatian descent. Croatia has been a source of migrants to Australia, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2011, 126,264 persons resident in Australia (0.6%) identified themselves as having Croatian ancestry.
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History
Croats were first noticeable in Australia during the gold rushes of the 1850s in the province of Victoria. At this time, Croats were coded as "Austrians" because most of Croatia was a part of the Habsburg Empire. By Australian federation in 1901, there were many Croats - mainly from Dalmatia — in Australia, counted with Czechs, Hungarians, Serbs, Slovaks and others as "Austro-Hungarians". The establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from Austria-Hungary after the First World War — shortly after renamed to Yugoslavia — continued to make it difficult to separate out Croats from other ethnicities in Australia. Croats were not recorded separately until the 1996 Census. The Australian Department of Immigration believes many Croats holding old (and now long out of date) Yugoslav passports still record themselves as Yugoslavs in Australian censuses, over a decade after the disintegration of Yugoslavia.
There is also a community of Croats who follow Islam, the descendants of those who converted after the 16th century, after the conquest of much of Croatia and Bosnia by the Ottomans. They established their Croatian Islamic Centre in 36 Studley St Maidstone, Victoria. with a masjid. Croatian Seventh-Day adventists meet in St. Albans.
Nevertheless, it is known that Croats formed a large proportion of those Yugoslavs who settled in Australia the 1960s and 1970s under Australian Government migration schemes. The Yugoslavia-born population reached 129,616 by the 1971 Census and 160,479 by the 1991 Census. The greatest number settled in Sydney and Melbourne, though Croats are well represented in every Australian city and region.
During the 1960s and 1970s, many Croatians were constantly under ASIO surveillance for alleged terrorist activities organized by the Yugoslav secret service, several of whom were named in the media. Some of the longest running and most expensive court cases in Australian history involved Croatians charged with terrorist related charges that were proven falsified, including the 'Croatian Six' who were convicted on tainted evidence. Federal Attorney-General Lionel Murphy created a media sensation when he led a raid on ASIO Headquarters looking for files on Croatian terrorist activities and not finding any at all, spurred on by claims of non surveillance by ASIO and that ASIO focused too much of its time on student anti-war groups instead of terrorist groups, though there may have been no terrorist activities for ASIO to investigate.
In November 1977, an unofficial Croatian embassy was opened in Canberra, causing a legal and diplomatic difficulty for both the Australian and Yugoslav governments. The embassy, aimed at raising awareness of Croatia as a nation and the Croatian people separate from Yugoslavia, remained open for a period of 23 months before closing in 1979. Its ambassador Mario Despoja is the father of former Democrats Leader Natasha Stott Despoja.
Since the independence of Croatia in the 1990s, an official embassy has been opened in Canberra and consulates have been opened in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.
Demographics
At the 2006 Census 50,993 persons resident in Australia identified themselves as having been born in Croatia, representing about 0.25% of the Australian population. The Census also noted 118,046 persons identified themselves as having Croatian ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry.
Croatian Australians are more likely to be resident in Victoria than any other state. As at 2006, 35.7% of Croats live in Victoria (where only 25% of the total Australian population reside). A further 36.2% of Croatian Australians reside in New South Wales (compared with 33% of the total Australian population).
As the level of immigration from Croatia has dropped significantly from the 1980s (70% of Australian residents born in Croatia arrived before 1980 ), the Croatian-born population is ageing: 43% of the Croatian-born population was aged sixty years old or older at the time of the 2006 Census.
As at the 2006 census 33,012 Croatian-born Australians (65%) speak Croatian at home; 17% of Croatian-born Australians speak English at home. Proficiency in English was self-described by census respondents as very well by 31%, well by 32%, 17% not well, 2.3% not at all (18% didn't state or said not applicable). In 2001, the Croatian language was spoken at home by 69,900 persons in Australia. Croatian is the tenth most widely spoken language in the country after English, Chinese, Italian, Greek, Arabic, Vietnamese, Spanish, Tagalog, German, and Macedonian.
Of the Australian residents who were born in Croatia, 48,271 or 95% were Australian citizens at the time of the 2006 census.
According to 2006 census data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 94% of Croatian born Australians recorded their religion as Christian. 2001 census data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2004, showed denominational affiliation by Croatian Australians was: 85.6% Catholic, 0.9% Anglican, 4.5% Other Christian, 1.4% claiming other Religions, and 7.6% claiming no religious affiliation.
Croatian Australians have an exceptionally low rate of return migration to Croatia. In December 2001, the Department of Foreign Affairs estimated that there were 1,000 Australian citizens resident in Croatia, mainly in Zagreb.
In Western Australia there are numerous large suburbs with Croatian/Slavic descent Fremantle, Spearwood, Cockburn, Dianella, Osborne Park, Gwelup, Stirling, Balcatta.
Croatian Australians and Soccer
Croats in Australia and their Croatian Australian offspring are notable for their commitment to soccer, with numerous clubs established throughout the country, the most notable and successful being Sydney Croatia and Melbourne Croatia. These clubs nurtured the soccer talents of a large number of Croatian Australians, many of whom now play professionally overseas. Croatian Australians have played for both Croatia and Australia. In the 2006 World Cup, there were seven Croatian Australians playing for Australia and three playing for Croatia. A total of 47 Croatian Australians have gone on to play for the Australian national soccer team, including 7 who captained the national team. The Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament is the oldest running soccer competition in Australia.