How have immigration patterns increased cultural diversity in New South Wales?

Immigration has been a primary driver of cultural diversity in New South Wales, particularly in the period following World War II. While the state’s population was historically dominated by people of British extraction, successive waves of migration have significantly altered its demographic and cultural landscape.12

Key factors in this transformation include:

• Shifting Origins: After 1947, New South Wales experienced major influxes of immigrants from the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, the Balkan region, and Turkey. From the 1980s onward, there was a substantial increase in arrivals from China and Vietnam, as well as refugees and humanitarian migrants from Iraq and southern Asia.12
• Multicultural Policy: In the 1970s, government policies shifted from an emphasis on assimilation to the active promotion of a multicultural society, which encouraged the preservation and expression of diverse cultural identities.2
• Urban Concentration: Most immigrants settled in Sydney, leading to recognizable ethnic and national concentrations. This has resulted in suburbs with distinct cultural characters—such as Greek or Italian neighborhoods—and a widespread presence of diverse ethnic restaurants and religious institutions, including mosques, synagogues, and Buddhist temples alongside traditional Christian denominations.123

These patterns have established New South Wales as a state with one of the highest proportions of overseas-born residents in Australia.1