Greek Australians

Greek immigration to Australia began in the early colonial period in the 19th century. The first known Greeks arrived in 1829.[6] These Greeks were seven sailors, convicted of piracy by a British naval court, and were sentenced to transportation to New South Wales. Though they were eventually pardoned, two of those seven Greeks stayed and settled in the country. One settled on the Monaro Plains in Southern New South Wales and one at Picton near Sydney. Their names were Ghikas Bulgaris known as Jigger Bulgari, and Andonis Manolis. Jigger Bulgari married an Irish woman, and they had many children. Jigger was buried at Nimmitabel Pioneer Cemetery. The Hellenic Club of Canberra laid a commemorative marble plaque over his resting place around 2000. Andonis Manolis' grave is in the old cemetery at Mittagong. The first known free Greek migrant to Australia was Katerina Georgia Plessos (1809–1907),[7] who arrived in Sydney with her husband Major James Crummer in 1835. They married in 1827 on the island of Kalamos where Crummer, the island's commandant, met the young refugee from the Greek independence wars. In her youth, she must have been one of the last living people to speak to Lord Byron. They lived in Sydney, Newcastle and Port Macquarie. They had 11 children.[8] The first wave of free Hellenic migrants commenced in the 1850s, and continued through the end of the 19th century, prompted in part by the recent discovery of gold in the country.[9]

Orpheus Arfaras, Greek ceramicist, Sydney, 1952

From the last decade of the 19th century until World War I, the number of Greeks immigrating to Australia increased steadily and Hellenic communities were reasonably well established in Melbourne and Sydney at this time. The Greek language press began in Australia and in 1913, Australia had the first Greek weekly newspaper called Afstralia that was published in Melbourne.[10] During World War I, Greece remained neutral, eventually joining the side of the Allies. In 1916, the Australian government responded to this by placing a special prohibition on the entry of Greeks and Maltese people to Australia that was not lifted until 1920. There were a number of anti-Greek outbursts as a result of the neutrality stance by Greece, often instigated by Australian soldiers on leave. During these outbursts, Greek shops and Greek cafés were badly damaged or destroyed, with the worst rioting occurring in Kalgoorlie and Boulder.

During the 1920s, as a result of the Greco-Turkish War there was a significant amount of Greek migration to Darwin, Northern Territory and across the Top End. Greeks often worked in the canefields in North Queensland and moved to Darwin during the dry season to work in the pearling industry. One famous family of Greek Australians, the Paspaley family from the island of Kastellorizo, excelled in the Pearling industry and have stores across Australia with their main store in Darwin. It is noted that the first major flow of Greek immigrants to Australia began in the mid 1920s, where many Greek people from Kastellorizo migrated to Australia to escape the Ottoman repression. Numerous of these people from Greece's easternmost island spent time in Egypt's second largest city, Alexandria, before being offered migration to Australia by British authorities. Those of Kastellorizian descent living in Australia now refer to themselves as 'Kazzies,' and have maintained a strong and unique community.

Greece entered World War II with the Allies when she was invaded by German and Italian forces, who remained in Greece until 1944. Many ANZACs went to the nation and tried to help the population to defeat the Axis enemy only to be saved themselves by the locals, building a relationship between Australians and Greeks that stands strong to this day. When troops withdrew a struggle broke out between pro and anti-communist factions which resulted in civil war between 1946 and 1949, ending with the defeat of the communists, but at a cost of many Greek lives and the uprooting of children who were kidnapped and taken from their families.

The Greek government, devastated by the destruction of infrastructure and the mass looting of their banks by the Germans, encouraged post-war migration as a way of solving poverty and unemployment problems. Post WWII in the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, Greeks were one of the main European races picked by the Australian government's "Populate or perish" immigration scheme and due to this, thousands of Greeks migrated to Australia to gain a better life and future for themselves and their families. The main destinations where these "Hellenes" immigrated were cities such as Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. During these decades, Greeks began to establish their own restaurants, Hellenic Community Clubs, and Greek-Australian soccer clubs. Greeks along with Italians, Croatians, Maltese, Serbians, Jews, Hungarians, Czechs, etc. marked a milestone on Australian sport in general by forming many successful Association football clubs. The most successful Australian clubs with Greek heritage and culture are South Melbourne Hellas (South Melbourne FC) founded in 1959, Alexander the Great (Heidelberg United FC) founded in 1958, Pan-Hellenic (Sydney Olympic FC) founded in 1957, West Adelaide Hellas (West Adelaide SC) founded in 1962 and Brisbane Pan Rhodian (Olympic FC) founded in 1967. All five clubs were founded by Greek immigrants that immigrated to those respective cities.

After the changes in Greece from the mid 1970s, including the fall of the Papadopoulos regime in 1974 and the formal inclusion of Greece into the European Union, Greek immigration to Australia has slowed since the 1971 peak of 160,200 arrivals. Within Australia, the Greek immigrants have been "extremely well organised socially and politically", with approximately 600 Greek organisations in the country by 1973, and immigrants have strived to maintain their faith and cultural identity.[11]

By comparison, the Greek Cypriot community in Australia doubled following the Invasion of Cyprus by Turkey following a campaign of ethnic cleansing in 1974. [12]

Greek Australians during a parade for Australia Day in Melbourne (2014)

Since the year 2000, Greek immigration to Australia has slowed down. However, in the years 2000–2009, many Greek-Australians both native Greek and Australian-born, returned to Greece to discover their homeland and reconnect with their ancestral roots. Yet, as the economic crisis in Greece grew, the opportunities for temporary resident Greek Australians abroad were limited.

In the early 2010s, there has been an increase of Greek immigration flows to Australia due to unemployment, among other issues, because of the economic crisis in Greece. This has led to the return of many Greek Australians which had gone to Greece before the crisis and also the arrival of newcomers from Greece, who have been received by the large Greek Australian community, mainly in Melbourne.[13]

According to census data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2016, 91.4% of Australians with Greek ancestry are Christian, mainly Eastern Orthodox, however minorities who belong to different Christian denominations like Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses and Pentecostals also exist. Together, these other denominations make up 0.4% of the Greek Australian population. 5.6% identified as spiritual, secular or irreligious, and 2.6% did not answer the census question on religion.[16] Greek Australians are predominantly Greek Orthodox.[16] The largest religious body of Greek Orthodox Australians is the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, with its headquarters at the Cathedral of The Annunciation of Our Lady in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern.

In 2016, the Greek language was spoken at home by 237,588 Australian residents, a 5.8% decrease from the 2011 census data. Greek is the seventh most commonly spoken language in Australia after English, Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Italian.[17] The remainder of the ethnic Greek population in Australia mainly use English as their first language.

The Greek language press had begun in Australia in 1913 when the first Greek weekly newspaper was published in Melbourne. In South Australia, the local Greek community published a short-lived newspaper called Okeanis (Oceania), around 1914 before it moved to Sydney.[18] On 16 November 1926, George Marsellos and John Stilson published a broadsheet under the name Panellenios Keryx (Panhellenic Herald or The Greek Herald), becoming the second national Greek newspaper in Australia.[19] In 1935 and 1936 a third newspaper, Pharos (Lighthouse), was published, and a number of short-lived titles were issued in the late 1960s, with the longest of these being Tachydromos (Mailman), founded in September 1968.[18] In 1957, Hellenic/Greek language newspaper Neos Kosmos was founded by Dimitri Gogos, Bill Stefanou and Alekos Doukas, the latter also being an exceptionally well known author. Since 1994, a publication called Paroikiako Vema (Steps in the adopted Country) and printed in Renmark, has served the Greek community in rural South Australia.[20]

Multicultural broadcaster SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) airs a Greek-language radio program every afternoon from 4 PM to 6 PM. The program features news, current affairs, music, interviews, and a talkback segment, where listeners can dial into the program from 5:30 PM onwards and express their opinion on a topic being focused on. Additionally, SBS also airs Greek public broadcaster ERT's Eidiseis news program every morning as part of their WorldWatch programming block.

• Nikos Athanasou – Professor of Musculoskeletal Pathology at Oxford University and Greek-Australian novelist.[21]
• Nick (Νικήτας) Birbilis – Professor of Engineering at the Australian National University.
• Adrian David Cheok – Professor of Pervasive Computing at City University London & Director of the Mixed Reality Lab
• Nicholas Doumanis – Assoc. Professor of History, at the University of New South Wales
• Nikolas Kompridis – Professorial Fellow at the University of Western Sydney in the School of Humanities & Communication Arts
• Christos Pantelis – Professor of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne
• Maria Skyllas-Kazacos – Emeritus Professor at the University of New South Wales, chemical engineer best known for her pioneering work of the vanadium redox battery
• John Tasioulas – Director of Institute for Ethics in AI and Professor of Ethics and Legal Philosophy at University of Oxford and first Greek-Australian Rhodes Scholar

• Con Chrisoulis – comic book creator
• Nonda Katsalidis – architect
• Marc Newson – industrial designer
• Polixeni Papapetrou – artist
• Paul Pholeros – architect
• Tony Rafty – caricaturist
• Stelarc (Stelios Arkadiou) – artist
• Christos Tsiolkas – writer
• Michael Zavros – artist/painter

• Harry Katsiabanis – founder of TaxiLink and StorageX
• Mark Bouris – managing director of Wizard
• George Calombaris – chef, former judge MasterChef Australia
• Con Constantine – former chairman, Newcastle United Jets
• Andrew Demetriou – chief executive, Australian Football League

Andrew Demetriou, former chief executive of the Australian Football League (AFL)

• Antony J. J. Lucas – businessman noted for his philanthropic activities
• Marinos Lucas – businessman, theatre company operator
• Andrew N. Liveris – CEO of Dow Chemical Company

Andrew N. Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical Company

• Kostas Makris – the richest Greek in Australia (in the top 30 of the richest residents in Australia)
• Nick Pappas – chairman, South Sydney Rabbitohs
• Nicholas Paspaley Senior and Paspaley family (Paspalis) – Paspaley dominate the pearling industry; large property holdings in Darwin CBD and properties in Sydney
• George Peponis – chairman, Canterbury Bulldogs
• Geoff Polites – chief executive officer of Australian Jaguar Land RoverFPV President / Tickford managing director
• Nick Politis – car retailer and chairman of the Sydney Roosters rugby league club
• James Samios – Hon. MBE Museum of Contemporary Art, Circular Quay, Sydney
• Peter V'landys – chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission

• Christopher Chronis – fashion designer
• Napoleon Perdis – make-up artist
• Alex Perry – fashion designer

• Peter Andrikidis – director, Underbelly
• Alex Andreas – actor
• Alex Blias – actor
• Alex Papps – actor, Play School
• Elena Carapetis – actress
• Gia Carides – actress
• Zoe Carides – actress
• Wayne Coles-Janess – director and producer
• Chantal Contouri – actress
• Mary Coustas – comedian
• Alex Dimitriades – actor
• Rebekah Elmaloglou – actress, Home and Away and Neighbours
• Sebastian Elmaloglou – actor, Home and Away, brother of Rebekah
• Damien Fotiou – actor
• Nick Giannopoulos – actor and director
• Diana Glenn – actress
• George Houvardas – actor, Packed to the Rafters
• Hugh Jackman – actor[22]
• George Kapiniaris – actor and comedian
• Peter Kelamis – comedian
• Costas Kilias – actor
• Ana Kokkinos – director
• Katerina Kotsonis - actor
• Nico Lathouris – actor
• Costas Mandylor – actor
• Louis Mandylor – actor
• Lex Marinos – actor, director, writer and broadcaster
• Harry Michaels – actor (TV series: Number 96) producer (Exercise Video: Aerobics Oz Style), Sports TV Director
• Bill Miller – director and producer
• George Miller – Academy Award-winning director and producer, Babe, Happy Feet, Mad Max: Fury Road

George Miller, director of Babe (1995), Happy Feet (2006), and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

• Ada Nicodemou – actress, Home and Away
• Phaedra Nicolaidis – actress
• Tony Nikolakopoulos – actor and director
• Socratis Otto – actor, known for television series Young Lions, and Wentworth
• Alex Papps – actor and Play School host
• Thaao Penghlis – actor (has played Tony DiMera and André DiMera on American soap opera Days of Our Lives)
• Alex Proyas – director, I, Robot, Dark City, The Crow, Knowing

Alex Proyas, director of The Crow (1994) and I, Robot (2004)

• Jordan Raskopoulos – comedienne and singer
• Steen Raskopoulos – actor and comedian
• Gina Riley – actress, Kath & Kim, comedienne, entertainer and singer
• Nathan Saidden – comedian
• George Spartels – actor
• Nadia Tass – director
• John Tatoulis – director and producer
• Maria Theodorakis – actress
• Alkinos Tsilimidos – director
• Olympia Valance – model and actress, Neighbours
• Zoe Ventoura – actress
• Helen Zerefos – actress and cabaret singer

• Nick Adams - also known as Nick Adamopoulos, US based political commentator
• Dimitri Gogos – late editor, Neos Kosmos
• Georgia Cassimatis – journalist, Australian Cosmopolitan magazine
• George Donikian – news presenter, Ten Network
• Peter Frilingos – sports journalist with the Daily Telegraph in Sydney, and broadcaster and commentator with the Continuous Call Team
• Helen Kapalos – journalist, reporter Sunday Night, Seven Network
• Patricia Karvelas – journalist, ABC
• Mary Kostakidis – journalist, SBS
• John Mangos – news presenter and journalist, Sky News Australia
• George Megalogenis – author and formerThe Australian newspaper journalist
• Harry Nicolaides – novelist
• Peter Peters – sports broadcaster and commentator

• Chris Kourakis – Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia
• Emilios Kyrou – Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria

• Peter Andre – singer, entertainer
• Alex Carapetis – drummer
• Kaz James – singer and DJ
• James Kannis – singer (Australian Idol)
• Chris Karan – jazz drummer (Dudley Moore Trio) and studio percussionist (Bob Marley & the Wailers)[23]
• Vasilliki Karagiorgos (Vassy) – singer and songwriter
• John Lemmone – flute player and composer
• Orianthi Panagaris – guitarist/musician
• Sally Polihronas – singer (Bardot)
• Nick Skitz – deejay-producer
• Costas Tsicaderis – singer-songwriter

• Nick Bolkus – federal politician
• Michael Costa – former Finance Minister, New South Wales
• Steve Dimopoulos – politician, Victoria
• Jim Fouras – politician, Queensland
• Steve Georganas – federal politician
• Petro Georgiou – federal politician
• John Hatzistergos – Attorney General, New South Wales
• Peter Katsambanis – former politician, Victoria
• Steve Kons – Deputy Premier, Tasmania
• Nicholas Kotsiras – Minister, Victoria
• Tom Koutsantonis – Minister for Trade, South Australia
• Michael McCormack - former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
• Ken Michael – politician
• Jenny Mikakos – former Health Minister, Victoria
• John Pandazopoulos – politician, Victoria
• Drew Pavlou – student activist at the University of Queensland
• Eleni Marie Petinos – politician, New South Wales
• Nick Staikos – politician, Victoria
• Andrew Theophanous – federal politician, Victoria (born Cyprus)
• Theo Theophanous – politician, Victoria (born Cyprus)
• Kat Theophanous – politician, Victoria
• Arthur Sinodinos – former Chief of Staff, PM John Howard
• Maria Vamvakinou – federal politician, Victoria
• Kon Vatskalis – politician, Northern Territory
• Nick Xenophon – politician, South Australia

• Archbishop Stylianos Harkianakis – former Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
• Archbishop Makarios Griniezakis – current Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

• Professor Manuel Aroney – organic chemistry
• Gerasimos Danilatos – physicist, inventor of environmental scanning electron microscope
• George North (Tramountanas) – pastoralist, sheep farmer and first Greek to settle in South Australia in 1842[24]
• Christos Pantelis – psychiatrist
• George Paxinos – Professor of Psychology at the University of New South Wales
• Michael Kyrios – clinical psychologist

• Luke Beveridge – Melbourne, Footscray & St Kilda player
• Ang Christou – Carlton player
• Andrew Demetriou – North Melbourne & Hawthorn player (later League CEO)
• Josh Francou – Port Adelaide player
• Gary Frangalas – Sydney & Richmond player
• John Georgiades – Footscray player
• John Georgiou – St.Kilda player
• Con Gorozidis – St.Kilda & Footscray player
• Athas Hrysoulakis – Collingwood player
• Peter Kanis – Hawthorn player
• Arthur Karanicolas – North Melbourne player
• Patrick Karnezis – Brisbane & Collingwood player
• Paul Koulouriotis – Port Adelaide & Geelong player
• Spiro Kourkoumelis – Carlton & St Kilda player
• Anthony Koutoufides – Carlton player
• Angelo Lekkas – Hawthorn player
• Spiro Malakellis – Geelong player
• Tony Malakellis – Geelong & Sydney player
• Steve Malaxos – Hawthorn & West Coast player
• Daniel Metropolis – West Coast & Fremantle player
• Russell Morris – Hawthorn & St Kilda player
• Chris Pavlou – Carlton player
• Phillip Poursanidis – Carlton player
• Lou Richards – Collingwood player
• Ron Richards – Collingwood player
• John Rombotis – Fitzroy, Port Adelaide & Richmond player
• Tony Spassopoulos – Fitzroy player
• Jimmy Toumpas – Melbourne & Port Adelaide player
• Jason Traianidis – St Kilda player
• Zeno Tzatzaris – Footscray player
• David Zaharakis – Essendon player

• Evangelos Goussis – Kickboxer and Boxer, convicted murderer
• George Kambosos Jr. – Professional boxer
• Michael Katsidis – Professional Boxer, former WBA and WBO lightweight champion
• Stan Longinidis – Kickboxer, former World Kickboxing Champion
• Tosca Petridis – Kickboxer, former World Kickboxing Champion

• Jason Gillespie – retired Australia international cricketer
• Marcus Stoinis – Australia international cricketer
• Peter Hatzoglou – Melbourne Renegades bowler

• Maxwell Gratton – CEO, Flying Disc Australia

• John Anastasiadis – former player of Heidelberg United, PAOK, South Melbourne and Yarraville Glory. Represented the Socceroos at U21 level. Coached Yarraville Glory, South Melbourne, Oakleigh Cannons and is current coach of Bentleigh Greens.
• Panos Armenakas – player, Udinese Calcio
• Con Blatsis – former player of South Melbourne, Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday (on loan), Colchester United, Kocaelispor and St Patrick's Athletic. Represented the Socceroos at U20, U23 and senior level.
• Con Boutsianis – former player of South Melbourne, Heidelberg United, Collingwood Warriors, Bentleigh Greens, Perth Glory, Bolton Wanderers, Bulleen Zebras, Oakleigh Cannons, Essendon United and Malvern City. He represented the Socceroos at senior level.
• Dean Bouzanis – player Melbourne City and former Liverpool FC
• Jason Davidson – player Melbourne Victory and former Socceroos
• Chris Kalantzis – player
• Evan Kostopoulos – player, Adelaide United
• Stan Lazaridis – player, Perth Glory and Socceroos
• Apostolos Stamatelopoulos – player, Adelaide United and Western United
• Michalis 'Mike' Mandalis - player, one of Australia's all-time greats South Melbourne and Melbourne Hakoah
• Lucas Pantelis – former player
• Jim Patikas – former player, first Australian participant in UEFA Champions League, former Socceroos
• Ange Postecoglou – coach Socceroos and Celtic, former player
• Peter Raskopoulos - player, Sydney Olympic FC
• Nick Theodorakopoulos – coach
• Michael Theoklitos – player, Brisbane Roar
• Michael Valkanis – coach, Melbourne City and Greece national football team assistant
• Andy Vlahos – player
• Charlie Yankos – Former Socceroos captain
• Terry Antonis – player, Western Sydney Wanderers
• Apostolos Giannou – player, Kerala Blasters
• Avraam Papadopoulos – player, Australian born Greece national football team member
• Jesse Makarounas – player, Melbourne Victory
• Dimitri Petratos – player, ATK Mohun Bagan
• Kosta Petratos – player, St George City
• Maki Petratos – player, St George City
• Chris Ikonomidis – player, Melbourne Victory
• Anthony Lesiotis – player, Melbourne City

• George Sotiropoulos – former UFC mixed martial artist
• Alexander Volkanovski – UFC mixed martial artist

• Braith Anasta – player, Sydney Roosters
• Jason Demetriou - player/coach
• George Gatis – player, New Zealand Warriors
• Steve Georgallis – player/coach
• Michael Korkidas – player, Salford City Reds
• Nick Kouparitsas – player, Canterbury Bulldogs
• Glenn Lazarus – player Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm
• Billy Magoulias — player, Cronulla Sharks
• George Peponis – former Australian captain
• Peter Peters - player, Manly-Warringah
• Willie Peters – player, South Sydney Rabbitohs
• Jim Serdaris – player, South Sydney, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
• John Skandalis – player, Huddersfield Giants
• Jason Stevens – player, St-George Illawarra Dragons, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
• Justin Tsoulos – player, Parramatta Eels
• Arthur Kitinas – player/coach, South Sydney Sydney Roosters

• Edward Psaltis – sailor

• Michael Diamond – shooter – Olympic gold medallist, Sydney 2000

• Tas Pappas – former World No.1
• Ben Pappas

• Lydia Lassila – skier

• Mark Philippoussis – player
• Nick Kyrgios – player
• Thanasi Kokkinakis – player

• Robert Kabbas - athlete
• Bill Stellios - athlete

• Tony Kontellis – professional wrestler
• Spiros Manousakis (Spiros Arion) – wrestler