Croatian Australians

Croats were first encouraged to migrate to Australia during the gold rushes of the 1850s taking place in the British colonies of Victoria and New South Wales.

Although migration was relatively small, Croatian travellers and sailors employed on merchant vessels played a significant role in spreading the news of the opportunities possible in Australia.

[5] In an interesting occurrence in October 1875, sixteen Croatian sailors aboard the vessel Stefano, became shipwrecked on the Ningaloo Reef along the West Australian coast.

Ten survived to reach the shore where the local Yinikutira people gave them food and water, and found their map of the coast among the shipwreck's debris.

Croats in Australia began to socially organize in 1910, when the Peasant Party (Seljačka stranka) was founded, which operated under the influence of the Radić brothers.

[7] Tom Starcevich, a Croatian Australian born in Subiaco, Western Australia was a recipient of the Victoria Cross medal for bravery during World War II.

[5] Croatian migration to Australia took on a different aspect after World War II due to unfavorable economic and political changes in Croatia.

[8][9][10][11] During the 1960s and early 1970s, the Ustaše splinter groups in Australia led by people like Srećko Rover ran a campaign of bombings, intimidation and insurgency operations against pro-Yugoslav interests.

Eventually, after a large bombing in Sydney injured many people, a crackdown on the Ustaše movement in the Croatian-Australia community occurred from late 1972.

This was spearheaded by the Attorney-General, Lionel Murphy, who raided ASIO Headquarters and made public the files on the Croatian terrorist activities.

[12][13][14][15] In November 1977, an unofficial Croatian embassy was opened in Canberra, causing a legal and diplomatic difficulty for both the Australian and Yugoslav governments.

[16] The embassy, aimed at raising awareness of Croatia as a nation and the Croatian people separate from Yugoslavia, remained open for 2 years closing in 1979.

[17] Sport is an important part of Croatian Australian culture, whilst they are visible in numerous different sports, they are most notably visible in soccer, with numerous clubs established by local Croatian communities throughout the country,[20] the most notable and successful being Sydney Croatia and Melbourne Croatia.