Australian Americans

Australian Americans

Total population
(60,965 2000 United States Census data)
Regions with significant populations
California, Hawaii, New York State, South Florida
Related ethnic groups
British Americans · Cornish Americans · Canadian Americans · English Americans · Scottish Americans · Scots-Irish Americans · Welsh Americans · Irish Americans

Australian Americans are Americans who have an Australian ancestry.

History

The history of the Australian American population almost follows the story of both British Americans and Irish Americans, as Australia was a British political territory at the time when they first emigrated and most of the settlers were English or Irish. The first wave of emigration from Australia to the United States came in the 1850s California Gold Rush when mostly Irish migrants who had escaped the Great Irish Famine had previously worked on the Australian goldfields. In San Francisco, the "Sydney Ducks" as they were known came into violent conflict with nativist locals. Transpacific immigration then dried up while the American Civil War raged. It picked up during the period of Reconstruction, but faltered again when Australia was hit by a depression in the late 1890s. Immigration to the United States peaked in the years following World War II, due to America's increased economic activity, and the exodus of 15,000 Australian war brides who married U.S. servicemen. From 1971 to 1990, more than 86,400 Australians and New Zealanders immigrated to the United States.^[1] At the 2000 U.S. Census, 60,965 Australian born people were enumerated in the United States, of which 15,315 were citizens. Around 40% of Australian Americans had entered the United States before 1980.^[2]

Notable Australian Americans

Business

Name	Born – died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with the United States
Rupert Murdoch	1931–	CEO of News Corporation	born in Australia	became naturalized U.S. citizen in 1985
Jacques Nasser	1947–	former CEO of Ford Motors	born in Lebanon but raised in Australia	resides in the U.S.

Public service

Name	Born – died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with the United States
Richard W. Fisher	1949–	Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President	Australian-American father	U.S. citizen at birth
John Henderson		blind activist	born in Australia	emigrated to the U.S. with parents as a child
Martin Indyk	1951–	former U.S. Ambassador to Israel	British born, Australian raised	U.S. diplomat
James Wolfensohn	1933–	former President of the World Bank	born in Australia	naturalized as U.S. citizen in 1980

Politics

Name	Born – died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Harry Bridges	1901–1990	International Longshore and Warehouse Union leader	born in Australia	became naturalized U.S. citizen in 1945

Authors

Name	Born – died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Jill Ker Conway	1934–	author	born in Australia	works in the U.S.
Sumner Locke Elliott	1917–1991	author of Careful, He Might Hear You	born in Australia	moved to the U.S. in 1948 and became naturalised U.S. citizen in 1955

Scientists

Name	Born – died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Philip K. Chapman	1935–	astronaut	born in Australia	emigrated to the U.S.
Terence James Elkins	1936–	physicist, 1st ascent of Mount Elkins, 1979 Harold Brown Award recipient	born in Australia	emigrated to the U.S. in 1963; naturalized U.S. citizen in 1971
Paul D. Scully-Power	1944–	oceanographer and astronaut	born in Australia	naturalized U.S. citizen in 1982
Andy Thomas	1951–	astronaut	born in Australia	naturalized U.S. citizen in 1986
Elizabeth Blackburn	1948–	winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine	born in Australia	naturalized U.S. citizen

Artists

Name	Born – died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Pat Oliphant	1935–	New York Times cartoonist	born in Australia	emigrated to U.S. in 1964

Sport

Name	Born – died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Darren Bennett	1965–	Australian rules football and American football	born in Australia, played AFL	played NFL
Taj Burrow	1978–	surfing	born in Australia	parents are U.S. citizens
Taylor Dent	1981–	tennis	father is Australian Phil Dent	mother is American Betty Ann Grubb Stuart and born in the U.S.
Jamie Dundee	1971–	professional wrestling	born in Australia	moved to U.S. as a child
Kyrie Irving	1992–	basketball	born in Melbourne	parents are U.S. citizens
Ben Simmons	1996-	basketball	born in Australia	father is American
Robert Machado	1973–	surfing	born in Sydney	grew up in and lives in California
James Spithill	1979–	sailing	born in Sydney	married to an American and skippered Oracle Team USA yacht to two victories

Music

Name	Born – died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
John Butler	1975–	lead singer for the John Butler Trio	family moved to Australia at age 11	born in the U.S.; mother is U.S. citizen
Flea	1962–	bassist for Red Hot Chili Peppers	born in Melbourne	lived in the U.S. since age 5
MC Lars	1982–	rapper	father is Australian	born in the U.S.
Helen Reddy	1941–	actress, singer	born in Australia	naturalized U.S. citizen
Cody Simpson	1997–	pop singer	born in Gold Coast, Queensland	moved to the U.S. in 2010
Rebecca St. James	1977–	Christian pop rock singer-songwriter	born in Sydney	family moved to the U.S. at age 14; married Cubbie Fink in 2011
Rick Springfield	1949–	singer and actor	born in Sydney	lives in the U.S.
Mark Stoermer	1977–	bassist for The Killers	father is Australian	born in the U.S.
Iggy Azalea	1990–	rapper	born in Sydney	moved to the U.S. at age 16
Ashton Irwin	1994-	drummer for 5 Seconds of Summer	born in Hornsby	father is American
Brody Dalle	1979–	singer-songwriter and guitarist	born in Melbourne	lives in the U.S.; married Josh Homme in 2007

Actors/Actresses

Name	Born – died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Simon Baker	1969–	actor	born in Launceston, Tasmania	moved to the U.S. in the 1990s; has been a dual U.S. and Australian citizen since 2010
Jacinda Barrett	1972–	actress	born in Brisbane	moved to the U.S. in the 1990s; married to U.S. citizen Gabriel Macht and became naturalized U.S. citizen in 2009
Sean Murray	1977–	actor	born in America to an American father and Australian mother; spent some of his childhood in Australia	U.S. citizen
Mia Farrow	1945–	actress	father is Australian	born in the U.S. with dual citizenship
Errol Flynn	1909–1959	actor	born in Hobart	became naturalized U.S. citizen in 1942
Sean Flynn	1989–	actor	grandfather is Australian Errol Flynn	born in the U.S.
Melissa George	1976–	actress	born in Australia	moved to U.S. in the 1990s; became naturalized U.S. citizen in 2008[3]
Mel Gibson	1956-	actor and director	moved to Australia in 1968	born in the U.S. with dual Australian and Irish citizenship
Nicholas Hammond	1950–	actor and director	moved to Australia in the mid-1980s	born in the U.S.
Nicole Kidman	1967–	actress	both parents are Australians; raised in Australia	born in the U.S. with dual citizenship
Poppy Montgomery	1975–	Without a Trace actor	born in Australia	lives and works in the U.S.; dual U.S. and Australian citizen
Nathan Parsons	1988–	actor	born in Australia	naturalized U.S. citizen
Ann Richards	1917–2006	actress	born in Australia	moved to the U.S. in 1942; father was a U.S. citizen
Tristan Rogers	1946–	General Hospital actor	born in Australia	naturalized U.S. citizen
Portia de Rossi	1973-	Ally McBeal actress and wife of Ellen DeGeneres	born in Australia	naturalized U.S. citizen
Kristen Stewart	1990–	actress	mother is Australian	born in the U.S.

Other

Name	Born – died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Valda Cooper	1915–2008	journalist, one of the first female reporters for the Associated Press	born in Melbourne, Australia	immigrated to the U.S. as an infant
Bindi Irwin	1998–	child television/film personality	father is Australian Steve Irwin	mother Terri Irwin is from Oregon
Laura James	1990–	fashion model, America's Next Top Model winner	mother is Australian	father is Dynasty actor John James; born in the U.S.
Thelma Keane	1926–2008	negotiated copyrights for The Family Circus, inspiration for the comic's "Mommy" character	born and raised in Queensland	immigrated to the U.S. with her husband, Bil Keane
Brianna Keilar	1980–	television journalist for CNN	born in Australia	grew up in Orange County, California
Soledad O'Brien	1966–	television journalist for CNN	father is Australian	born in the U.S.
Terry Tao	1975–	mathematician, 2006 Fields medalist	born in Australia	won a Fulbright Scholarship in 1992; attained Ph.D. at Princeton in 1996; married an American
Marsha Waggoner	1940–	champion poker player	born in Australia	lived in the U.S. since 1977
Christopher Wilder	1945–1984	serial killer	born in Australia	emigrated to the U.S. in 1969; father is a U.S. citizen

See also

• American Australians
• Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
• Little Australia

References

1. http://www.everyculture.com/multi/A-Br/Australian-and-New-Zealander-Americans.html
2. http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/stp-159/stp159-australia.pdf
3. Idato, Michael. "Entering a grey area", The Sydney Morning Herald, 2009-03-16. Retrieved on 2009-03-16.