Special Guest Pritika Desai (right), who was named the India Australia Business Community Awards Young Community Achiever of the Year for her work on a youth mental health project, reflected on her Indian heritage at the Welcome Wall unveiling ceremony, 7 May 2017.

Stories from the Wall

More than 10m people have crossed the world to settle in Australia - read some of their compelling stories here.

Pictured above: Special Guest Pritika Desai (right), who was named the India Australia Business Community Awards Young Community Achiever of the Year for her work on a youth mental health project, reflected on her Indian heritage at the Welcome Wall unveiling ceremony, 7 May 2017. Photo: Andrew Frolows, ANMM
Maie Talmet (second from left) at Woodside Hostel with the doll her father gave her on arrival in Adelaide, 1949. Reproduced courtesy Maie Barrow.

As far from Europe as possible

17 Jan 2019

In the aftermath of World War II, many displaced Europeans migrated to far-flung nations, including Australia, in search of a better future. The Talmet family feld Soviet rule to settle in Adelaide, building a new life from very little.

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Going away party for the wedding of Maria and Lorenzo Roder’s daughter, Mary (front row, holding handbag), c 1921. Maria and Lorenzo are in the back row, third and fourth from right. Reproduced courtesy Pauline Lovitt.

La Cella Venezia

16 Jan 2019

Long before the era of mass migration in the 1950s and 60s, a pioneering group of farmers from northern Italy sought a better life in the South Pacific. This is the story of the ill-fated Marquis de Rays expedition in 1880, which would lead to the creation of a prosperous Italian community out of misfortune and adversity.

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Passengers watch from the deck of City of Sydney as Skaubryn burns in the Indian Ocean, 1958. ANMM Collection Gift from Barbara Alysen ANMS0214[005]. Reproduced courtesy International Organisation for Migration

Four ships, one lifeboat

15 Jan 2019

The Norwegian liner Skaubryn was the only vessel lost at sea during the era of post-war migration to Australia, when it caught fire in 1958 with 1,288 people on board, including more than 200 children.

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Marie and Michel Nehme at Fairlane Farm, Nehme vineyard, Yenda, 1988. All images reproduced courtesy Julie Nehme

Wine and poetry

10 Jan 2019

Hailing from a Lebanese region known for its grapes, it is fitting that Michel and Marie Nehme established a thriving vineyard in the heart of the Riverina district of New South Wales, which they lovingly tended by hand while raising a young family.

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Welcome Wall Unveiling

Welcome Wall

25 Sep 2018

The Welcome Wall pays tribute to the migrants who have travelled the world to call Australia home. More than 200 countries are represented on the Welcome Wall, which faces Darling Harbour and Pyrmont Bay, where many migrants arrived in Australia.

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Cane farmers

Operation Kangaroo

06 Aug 2018

Sixty years ago today, the first contingent of assisted immigrants arrived under the Spanish migration agreement’s Operación Canguro (‘Operation Kangaroo’) to work as cane-cutters in north Queensland.

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Welcome Wall May 2018

09 May 2018

Last weekend the much-loved sports journalist and soccer broadcaster, Les Murray, was honoured by his family to have his name unveiled on the museum's Welcome Wall.

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Fifty years of Turkish migration

05 Oct 2017

Fifty years ago today, on 5 October 1967, the Australian and Turkish governments signed a bilateral agreement to provide assisted passage to Turkish migrants, to help build Australia’s population and expand the workforce.

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The Soo family at the Welcome Wall Unveiling Ceremony. Image Andrew Frolows

From the countryside of China to Australia

14 Sep 2017

Migrating from China in 1950, Albert Lam Fun Soo believed that going to Australia was a unique opportunity not only for himself, but also for his entire family. Albert’s belief proved to be correct, as he opened the first Chinese restaurant in Dubbo, New South Wales with three other business partners, eventually becoming the sole owner with his wife, Linda, 12 years later.

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