Diplomatic relations exist between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Over 170,000 Australian citizens are of Polish descent.Poland country brief
/ref> Both nations are members of the Australia Group and the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...

History

The first Polish citizens to arrive to Australia was in December 1696.The history of Polish-Australian relations
/ref> The 10 Polish citizens sailed with Dutch explorer

Willem de Vlamingh Willem Hesselsz de Vlamingh (November 1640 – ) was a Dutch sea captain who explored the central west coast of New Holland ( Australia) in the late 17th century, where he landed in what is now Perth on the Swan River. The mission proved fruit ...

during his exploration of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The first known Pole to settle in Australia was

Joseph Potaski Joseph Potaski, or John Potaskie ( 1764 – 31 August 1824), was the first Pole to settle in Australia, and one of the first convicts to arrive in Van Diemen's Land on ''Ocean''. Joseph Potaski worked hard to establish himself as a successful f ...

who arrived to

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

as a convict, along with his family, in 1803. For the next 40 years, dozens of Polish migrants arrived and settled in Australia. In the early 1900s, diplomatic relations between Australia and Poland were conducted via-

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

when Australia was part of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. Following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Poland regained independence in 1918 and then established a consulate in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1919 and a consulate in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1931. Both consulates, however, were closed immediately after the German

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

in September 1939. Australia declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, the third day of the German invasion of Poland, which started

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Australian and Polish troops fought together in the Italian Campaign, especially during the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...

. Australian prisoners of war were among

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

POWs held in

German POW camps For lists of German prisoner-of-war camps, see: * German prisoner-of-war camps in World War I * German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II Nazi Germany operated around 1,000 prisoner-of-war camps (german: Kriegsgefangenenlager) during World War ...

operated in

occupied Poland ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...

. Australian soldier Walter Edward Smith, who escaped from the

Stalag XX-A Stalag XX-A was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp located in Toruń in German-occupied Poland. It was not a single camp and contained as many as 20,000 men at its peak. The main camp was located in seven forts of the 19th-century Toruń ...

camp and then joined the Polish resistance and fought in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

, is the first foreigner to be awarded the

Warsaw Uprising Cross The Warsaw Uprising Cross ( pl, Warszawski Krzyż Powstańczy) was a Polish military decoration. It was established by law on July 3, 1981 in order to honor the participants of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. It was discontinued in 1999. It is distinc ...

. After the war, Poland re-emerged, although with different borders than it had prior to the war and with a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

-installed communist regime. From 1947 to 1966, over 61,000 Polish migrants immigrated to Australia. Many of the Polish migrants were veterans, displaced persons, survivors of labour and concentration camps, prisoner-of-war camps or immigration detention camps. In February 1972, Australia and Poland officially established diplomatic relations. That same year, Poland opened an embassy in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. Australia opened an embassy in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

in September 1973. Throughout the 1980s, Poland experienced the

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

("Solidarność") movement which eventually contributed to the fall of communism in the country. During that time period, over 25,000 “Solidarity” migrants immigrated to Australia.

High level visits

The highest visit occurred in September 2000 when Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski paid a visit to Australia and attended the opening ceremony of the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

being held in Sydney. In May 2013, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski paid an official visit to Australia. The visit was soon reciprocated by Australian Foreign Minister

Julie Bishop Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2007 to 2018. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Curtin ...

in March 2014, at which time both nations signed a Working holiday visa agreement. In 2013, both nations celebrated 40 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Bilateral relations

Since establishing diplomatic relations in 1972, both nations have signed numerous agreements such as an Investment and Promotion and Protection Agreement (1991); Double Taxation Agreement (1991); Extradition Treaty (1999); Air Services Agreement (2005); a Joint Communiqué on Cooperation in Environmental Technologies, Goods and Services (2006); and a Social Security Agreement (2010). In 2012, Australia donated A$500,000 to the

Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, created in 2009 by Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, aims to gather and manage an endowment from which income shall finance the long-term, global preservation program of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Site. Aim and object ...

to preserve the death camps of

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

in Poland. In August 2021, Poland resold slightly over one million Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to Australia on a non-profit basis.

Australian Prime Minister The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the federal government of Australia and is also accountable to federal parliament under the principl ...

Scott Morrison personally thanked his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki for the deal, saying Morawiecki had been motivated by the ongoing outbreak in

Trade

In 2018, trade between Australia and Poland totaled US$1.1 billion. Australia's main exports to Poland include coal, copper ores and concentrates, zinc ores and concentrates and medicaments. Poland's main exports to Australia include silver and platinum, mechanical handling equipment and parts, goods vehicles and passenger motor vehicles.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Australia has an embassy in

. * Poland has an embassy in

and a consulate-general in

.Embassy of Poland in Australia
/ref> File:Australian Embassy Warsaw 02.jpg, Embassy of Australia in Warsaw File:Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Australia.jpg, Embassy of Poland in Canberra File:Polish Consulate General in Sydney.jpg, Consulate-General of Poland in Sydney

References