Source 1: The source of Australias Vietnam-born community

Source 2: Fear

Vietnam was part of French Indo-China until the Japanese occupation during the Second
World War. In September 1945, Ho Chi Minh (the communist revolutionary leader)
declared its independence; however, the French then reoccupied Vietnam leading to the
French Indo-China War. After the French were defeated, a communist government was
established in the north and an American-backed government in the south.
Saigon [the capital of South Vietnam] fell to the communists on 30 April 1975 and the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam was declared in 1976. Mass numbers of Vietnamese fled
their country. In the ensuing decade, an estimated two million people fled Vietnam, initially
by sea seeking refuge in neighbouring refugee camps in South East Asia and resettlement
in the West, predominantly in Australia, the United States, France and Canada.
Prior to 1975, there were about 700 Vietnam-born people in Australia, mostly tertiary
students, orphans, and wives of Australian military personnel who had served in Vietnam.
Refugee resettlement occurred during 1975 to 1985, followed by family reunion. By 1981,
close to 50 000 Vietnamese people had been resettled in Australia.
The composition of the Vietnamese intake changed in the mid-1990s with the
implementation of the Comprehensive Plan of Action and streamlining of the Vietnamese
Family Migration Program. Thereafter, the number of refugees seeking asylum in Australia
declined.
The majority of Australias Vietnam-born people reside in New South Wales, Victoria,
Queensland and South Australia comprising mainly of Vietnamese and Chinese ancestry.
There were 154 830 Vietnam-born people in Australia at the 2001 Census, making up 3.8
per cent of the overseas-born population and 0.8 per cent of the total Australian
population.
The Vietnam-born community, Department of Immigration and Citizenship
http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/textversion/vietnam.htm
CC BY 3.0 AU creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en

April, 1975 The evacuation of the US Embassy in

Saigon
Coming up against entrenched racism, Australian Associated Press.
Used with permission. http://old.post-gazette.com/newslinks/vietnam.asp

Source 3: Demographic features of the Vietnamese immigrants in Australia in 2006

Geographic distribution
The latest Census in 2006 recorded 159 850 Vietnam-born people in Australia, an increase
of 3.2 per cent from the 2001 Census. The 2006 distribution by state and territory showed
New South Wales had the largest number with 63 790 followed by Victoria (58 870),
Queensland (13 080) and South Australia (10 550).
Age and sex
The median1 age of Vietnam-born people in 2006 was 41.0 years compared with 46.8 years
for all overseas-born and 37.1 years for the total Australian population. The age distribution
showed 1.9 per cent were aged 014 years, 8.1 per cent were 1524 years, 50.3 per cent
were 2544 years, 32.5 per cent were 4564 years and 7.3 per cent were 65 and over.
Of the Vietnam-born people in Australia, there were 75 290 males (47.1 per cent) and
84 560 females (52.9 per cent). The sex ratio was 89.0 males per 100 females.
Employment
Among Vietnam-born people aged 15 years and over, the participation rate in the labour
force was 61.9 per cent and the unemployment rate was 11.4 per cent. The corresponding
rates in the total Australian population were 64.6 and 5.2 per cent respectively.
Of the 84 150 Vietnam-born who were employed, 21.8 per cent were employed in a Skill
Level1 1 occupation, 8.9 per cent in Skill Level 2 and 12.2 per cent in Skill Level 3. The
corresponding rates in the total Australian population were 28.7, 10.7 and 15.1 per cent
respectively.
The Vietnam-born community, Department of Immigration and Citizenship
http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/textversion/vietnam.htm CC BY 3.0 AU
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en
1

Median means the middle of the range from youngest to oldest

Skill levels are based on a points systems awarded for different occupations (as desired by the economy) and
levels of qualifications

Source 4: Building bridges

The bilateral relationship political and social
Bilateral links between Australia and Vietnam have developed significantly since the
establishment of diplomatic relations in 1973. A significant milestone was reached in
September 2009 when the two countries signed The Australia Vietnam Comprehensive
Partnership1. The Plan of Action, signed in October 2010, consolidates the Comprehensive
Partnership Agreement and provides a strong basis for extensive engagement and
cooperation in diverse areas of mutual interest.
Defence, police relations and regional security
Formal defence relations between Australia and Vietnam were established in February 1998,
with the opening of a Defence Attach Office at the Australian Embassy in Hanoi occurring in
1999. Vietnam's first Defence Attach to Australia took up his appointment in Canberra in
September 2000.

DFAT links to The AustraliaVietnam Comprehensive Partnership state that: Since

establishment of diplomatic relations in February 1973, Australia and Vietnam have
developed a positive economic, political and security relationship, reinforced by warm and
expanding people-to-people links.
Vietnam country brief, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/vietnam/vietnam_brief.html
CC BY 3.0 AU creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/

Source 5: Vietnamese refugees and changing Australian identity

Although the White Australia Policy was no longer in force when the first Vietnamese
refugees began to arrive in Australia by boat in 1976, the majority of migrants to Australia up
until that point continued to come from Great Britain and other English speaking countries.
Between 1975 and 1982, approximately 200 000 migrants arrived in Australia from Asia.
Immigration and cultural policy began to be based on the idea that Australia was a
multicultural society: SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) radio and television began and the
Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs was established.
Viewed in the longer run it was the entry of Vietnamese refugees that made
Australias migrant intake multiracial it was under [Frasers] management that
Australia first confronted the real consequences of abolishing the White Australia
Policy.
Petro Georgiou cited in
Australias Prime Ministers, National Archives of Australia
http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/fraser/in-office.aspx

References:
Fraser Government, Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser_Government#Immigration (accessed 4/3/2014)
Australias Prime Ministers, National Archives of Australia http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/fraser/in-office.aspx
(accessed 26/2/2014)