Lebanese Australians
Australian population)[1] 87,343 (by birth, Eastern Orthodox (9.9%), No religion (3.4%) and Protestant/Evangelical (3.4%)[4] | |
Related ethnic groups | |
---|---|
Lebanese British, Lebanese Americans, Lebanese Canadians, Lebanese New Zealanders |
Part of Lebanese cedar ) |
Lebanon portal |
Lebanese Australians (
Diaspora history
19th-century migration
As part of a large-scale emigration in the 1870s, numerous Lebanese (specifically Lebanese Christians fleeing Ottoman persecution) migrated in great numbers out of
In the 1890s, there were increasing numbers of Lebanese immigrants to Australia, part of the mass emigration from the area of Lebanon that would become the modern Lebanese state, and also from the
White Australia policy
Under the
Prior to 1918, Lebanese immigrants to Australia were not habitually distinguished from
From 1920, people from Lebanon (and Syria) were granted access to Australian citizenship as the Nationality Act 1920 removed the racial disqualification from the naturalisation laws.[7]
By 1947, there were 2,000 Lebanese-born in Australia,[9] almost all Christian.
Second wave of migration
The Lebanese-born population numbered 5,000 in 1971. Following the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975–1990, this wave of migrants were often poor and for the first time, over half of them were Muslim.[9] This influx of new migrants changed the character of the established Lebanese community in Australia significantly, especially in Sydney where 70% of the Lebanese-born population were concentrated.[9]
Christian Maronite and Orthodox Lebanese Christians that settled in Australia over the last two centuries were able to gain some influence within Australian politics. In late 1975, unrest in Lebanon caused a group of influential Maronite Australians to approach Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and his immigration minister, Michael MacKellar regarding the resettling of Lebanese civilians with their Australian relatives. Immediate access to Australia could not be granted under normal immigration categories, thus the Lebanese people were categorised as refugees. This was not in the traditional sense as the Lebanese people were not fleeing from persecution but escaping from internal conflict between Muslim and Christian groups. This action was known as the "Lebanon Concession".[10]
Between 1975–1990, more than 30,000 civil war refugees arrived in Australia.
21st century
Following the trials for a
In November 2016,
Return migration
Lebanese Australians have a moderate rate of
Demographics
Worldwide, most people of Lebanese ancestry today live outside Lebanon, and are known as the Lebanese diaspora which numbers from 8[18] to possibly 14 million.[19]
Locations
In
In
Religious diversity
According to the
Business
Lebanese in Sydney have followed a distinctive occupational pattern characterised by high levels of self-employment, particularly in petty commercial activities such as hawking and shopkeeping. In 1901, '80 per cent of Lebanese in NSW were concentrated in commercial occupations' – in 1947, little had changed, as 60 per cent of Lebanese were 'either employers or self-employed'. The Lebanese in Melbourne have opened restaurants and groceries and Middle Eastern shops and Lebanese bars on Sydney Road which is sometimes called "Little Lebanon".[23]
The peak business body is the Australian Lebanese Chamber of Commerce, with associations in both Sydney and Melbourne.
Arts, culture, terminology
In 2014, a series of documentaries on Lebanese Australians was presented by SBS under the title Once Upon a Time in Punchbowl.[24]
The
In 2017–8, two seasons of the sitcom Here Come the Habibs, featuring a Lebanese Australian family who win the lottery and move to the posh eastern suburbs of Sydney, aired on Channel 9.[26]
Michael Mohammed Ahmad's 2018 comic novel The Lebs was shortlisted for the 2019 Miles Franklin Award. He had previously written an essay entitled "Lebs and Punchbowl Prison", the prison referring to his alma mater, Punchbowl Boys' High School. At his school, the term "Lebs" did not refer just to boys from Lebanese family, but to anyone whose family came from the Middle East, and even included boys with African and Indonesian backgrounds.[27] The term "Leb" or "Lebo" has been used as a derogatory term, mostly in Sydney, and gained more widespread use after the 2005 Cronulla Riots. It is listed in the Collins English Dictionary as "Australian (offensive, slang), a person from Lebanon or of Lebanese origin".[28] Ahmad wishes to help reclaim the word through his writing.[29][30]
Notable Lebanese Australians
See also
- List of Lebanese people in Australia
- Arab Australian
References
- ^ a b c Community profile 2021 abs.gov.au
- ^ "Greater Sydney: Birthplace". id.community. AustraliaCommunity profile. Retrieved 15 July 2019.}
- ^ "Greater Melbourne: Birthplace". id.community. AustraliaCommunity profile. Retrieved 15 July 2019.}
- ^ "2021 People in Australia who were born in Lebanon, Census Country of birth QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics".
- ^ a b "El Australie - a history of Lebanese migration to Australia". Hindsight - ABC Radio National. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 February 2008. Archived from the original on 10 January 2019.
- ^ "History of immigration from Lebanon". Origins:Immigrant Communities in Victoria. Museum of Victoria. Archived from the original on 1 August 2008. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
- ^ ISSN 1834-8491. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
- ^ This was a common enough practice in Australian immigration information – for example, the UK and Ireland were not statistically separated until as late as 1996).[citation needed]
- ^ a b c d Humphrey, Michael (2004). "Lebanese identities: between cities, nations and trans-nations". Arab Studies Quarterly (Winter). Association of Arab-American University Graduates: 8. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
- ^ a b "Concession that led to debacle". 22 May 2015.
- ^ "... For Being Lebanese". Four Corners (TV program). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 16 September 2002. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
- ^ jackson, Liz (13 March 2006). "Riot and Revenge (Program transcript)". Four Corners (TV program). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
- ^ Davidson, Helen (18 November 2016). "Australia is paying for Malcolm Fraser's immigration mistakes, says Peter Dutton". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
- ^ "Julie Bishop defends Peter Dutton's comments on Lebanese immigration". Nine.com.au. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
- ^ Hunter, Fergus; McIlroy, Tom (24 November 2014). "Peter Dutton blames Bill Shorten for whipping up hysteria over Lebanese-Muslim comments". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- DFAT data). 14 February 2001. Archived from the original(PDF) on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
- ^ "Govt to foot Lebanon evacuation bill". ABC News. 22 July 2006. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
- ^ Bassil promises to ease citizenship for expatriates
- )
- ^ "Top Sydney Council Areas: Residents of Lebanese Ancestry Heat Map". Microburbs. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ "Census 2016, Ancestry by Birthplace of Parents (SA2+)". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- ^ "2021 People in Australia who were born in Lebanon, Census Country of birth QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics".
- ^ "Little Lebanon in Melbourne". reviewstream.com. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
- ^ Once Upon a Time in Punchbowl at SBS On Demand, 3 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014
- ^ "About us". Lebanese Film Festival. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ Cronin, Seanna (8 June 2017). "Here Come the Habibs star to keep pushing boundaries". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ Ley, James (25 May 2018). "I'm with stupid: The Lebs by Michael Mohammed Ahmad". Sydney Review of Books. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
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(help) - ^ "Leb". Collins Dictionary. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ Dumas, Daisy (20 February 2018). "What it means to be a 'Leb' in Australian culture". SBS. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ Nicholls, Claire (12 July 2019). "Miles Franklin shortlist – The Lebs by Michael Mohammed Ahmad" (Audio + text). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. RN: The Bookshow. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
Further reading
- "Lebanese Settlement". Migration Heritage Centre, NSW.
- Australian Lebanese Historical Society
- Lebanese-Australian Embassy
- United Australian Lebanese movement
- World Lebanese Cultural Union (WLCU) Geographic-Regional Council (GRC) for Australia and New Zealand
- Anne Monsour and Paul Convy - Australian Lebanese Historical Society (2008). "Lebanese". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 4 October 2015. (History of Lebanese in Sydney)