[12] In the 1960s, especially between the years 1968-70, around 1,500-2,000 Chileans arrived in Australia as a consequence of the economic recession produced during the government of Eduardo Frei Montalva, and the high level of unemployment at the termination of his administration.

[15] His ascension to the presidency provoked a high level of uncertainty amongst the wealthy, given his stated platform of nationalisation of mining, industry, and services.

This group was, again, overwhelmingly middle class, with sufficient resources (education and finance) to establish themselves as small business operators within Australia.

[citation needed] In this group arrived laser physicist and author Frank Duarte who became the first South American to graduate with a Ph.D. from an Australian university, and leader of the Macquarie science reform movement.

Political elitists and intellectuals from the left were also small in numbers, due to their preference for Eastern Europe and socialist nations in the Hispanic world.

Former president of Chile Michelle Bachelet briefly lived in Australia with family already present in the country after the coup of 1973 later moving to East Germany.