Macedonian Australians
[2] According to ABS data from 2021, 66,173 people were using Macedonian at home, making it the most-spoken Eastern European language, with more speakers than Russian, Polish, Serbian or Croatian.
Many suburbs have large Macedonian speaking communities, the largest are Port Kembla (20.9%), Thomastown (16.7%), Banksia (16.1%), Coniston (15.9%) and Lalor (14.8%).
[19] When the Yugoslav policies that encouraged its citizens to work overseas were introduced, many ethnic Macedonians within Yugoslavia left for Australia.
[20] Currently, there are over 40,000 people in Greater Melbourne of Macedonian descent, making up around one percent of the population - the 17th largest ethnicity in the city behind Lebanese but ahead of Croatian.
[30] In the mid 1990s, Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett backed the Greek position over the Macedonian question in his attempts to shore up local electoral support.
[28] The decision upset Macedonians, as they had to use the terms in deliberations with the government or its institutions related to education and public broadcasting.
[36] The plaintiffs described that the government directive treated Macedonian differently and with an unequal status from other officially recognised languages.
[36] The judge stated that HREOC had made errors in its interpretation of various terms and ruled that discrimination had occurred based on ethnic background.
[36] The issue returned to HREOC and in late December 2000, the commissioner ruled that the directive was not in accordance with the law and that it was discrimination based on ethnic background.
[36] The commissioner stated that people from the Macedonian community had experienced distress and humiliation as the Victorian Government had not conducted itself lawfully.
[36] The state government said it would remove the language directive and Premier Steve Bracks urged acceptance of the ruling among local communities.
Branches were opened in Sydney (Vesela Makedonija), Queanbeyan (Alexander the Great), Richmond (Kotori), Crabbes Creek (Sloboda), Katoomba, Port Kembla, Forbes, Braidwood, Beechwood (Wauchope), Lithgow, Captains Flat, Newcastle, Bonnyrigg and Griffith.
The first Macedonians came to Sydney in the early 1920s before making their way to the coal fields of the Illawarra or Hunter Valley, the heavy industrial centres of Port Kembla and Newcastle, or heading inland to places like Broken Hill and Richmond.
From 1960 onwards thousands of Macedonians from the Bitola and Prespa regions of Macedonia settled in Sydney, most notably: Rockdale, Arncliffe, Bexley, Bankstown, Yagoona and Banksia.
Another church Света Богородица Пречиста/Holy Mother of God in Liverpool has also opened and Macedonian is now taught at Macquarie University.
From 1960 onwards thousands of Macedonians were employed in the Port Kembla Steelworks, they primarily settled in the nearby suburbs of Cringila, Warrawong and Coniston.
In 1971 the first Sredselo was introduced to Lake Heights by Lambe Nestoroski, Trajan Ristanovski and Sergija Sekuloski, it soon spread to Cringila.
In 1946 a chapter of the Macedonian-Australian People's League was founded, it was called Mladi Goce after the name of the commander of the First Aegean Partisan Brigade which operated in Macedonia in 1944/1945.
In 1983 the foundation stone for the Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral, Свети Климент Охридски/Saint Kliment of Ohrid in Red Hill was laid.
The group helped organise the "Miss Macedonia" competition and other events to raise money for the Macedonian Hospital Appeals.
The "Macedonian Soccer Club" which was disbanded during World War Two was eventually replaced by "Makedonija" in 1947, "Alexander" in 1954 and finally "Olympic" in 1956.
The development known as "Macedonia Park" was to include a nursing home, C grade hospital, a chapel, rectory, halls, bars and a wide range of sporting amenities.
Other notable Macedonians who had arrived by 1930 included Risto Numev, Lazo Miče, The Milentises and Kole Palasin who would go on to have great influence in the regions local tobacco industry.
It was said that many Anglo-Australians gloated at the ruin of the Macedonians, but in fact many Australians were also affected and a local department store closed within months of the tobacco collapse.
A film based on the experiences of Stase Manov, a Macedonian in Manjimup, called Stari Kraj (Old Country) was shown on Yugoslavian television.
[48] On 28 April 1968, a statue memorial to Macedonian National Hero Goce Delčev, Cyrillic: Гоце Делчев was unveiled.
In 1982 the first Macedonian Orthodox Church in South Australia, Saint Naum of Ohrid, Cyrillic: Свети Наум Охридски was consecrated.
It was decided that the first ever Macedonian hall built in Crabbes Creek should be sold and the proceeds go towards founding Sveta Bogorodica church.
An Australia wide cultural day was held on the Gold Coast during the Christmas of 2006 to help raise funds for the Church.
Pre-World War Two migration occurred in two waves: the first, in 1924, when the USA imposed heavy immigration restrictions and the second, after 1936, when the 4 August Regime of General Ioannis Metaxas took power in Greece.
