Serbian Australians ( sr, / ), are
citizens
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
of
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 ...
who fully, or partially identify as
Serbian by birth or descent. In the 2021 census there were 94,997 people in Australia of Serbian ancestry, making it a significant group with the global
Serb diaspora
Serb diaspora ( sr, Српска дијаспора/Srpska dijaspora) refers to the diaspora communities of ethnic Serbs. It is not to be confused with the Serbian diaspora, which refers to migrants, regardless of ethnicity, from Serbia. Due to g ...
.
History
During the time of
Federation
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
a very small number of Serbs inhabited Australia. Despite a lack of accurate data it is assumed that ethnic Serbs deriving from
Lika
Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by ...
,
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
and
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
did reside in largely
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
communities throughout the Commonwealth, though exact numbers are unsubstantiated. The first significant, albeit small wave of Serbian migrants, comprising mostly former
POWs
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
, and
displaced persons
Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...
fleeing
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
and
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
began arriving in Australia as
post-war immigrants. This initial wave also included members of the royalist
Chetnik
The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...
movement fleeing political persecution by the
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
regime of
Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...
.
The easing of emigration restrictions by
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
generated a second, larger wave of predominantly
economic migration
An economic migrant is someone who emigrates from one region to another, including crossing international borders, seeking an improved standard of living, because the conditions or job opportunities in the migrant's own region are insufficient. Th ...
throughout the 1960s and 1970s. An agreement between Australia and Yugoslavia facilitated the recruitment of largely unskilled and semi-skilled immigrants, from predominantly rural backgrounds to work in Australia's
manufacturing
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...
and construction industries. The developing political and
economic issues
A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...
in Yugoslavia during the 1980s, alongside its
disintegration,
ensuing wars,
economic sanctions
Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they may ...
, and
hyperinflation of the 1990s, resulted in the largest Serbian migration to Australia.
Classification issue
For many years Serbian Australians were classified "
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs or Yugoslavians ( Bosnian and Croatian: ''Jugoslaveni'', Serbian and Macedonian ''Jugosloveni''/Југословени; sl, Jugoslovani) is an identity that was originally designed to refer to a united South Slavic people. It has ...
" as flawed
Australian census
The Census in Australia, officially the Census of Population and Housing, is the national census in Australia that occurs every five years. The census collects key demographic, social and economic data from all people in Australia on census nig ...
data failed to recognise the diverse
ethnic groups
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
within the former Yugoslavia. Questions regarding ancestral heritage were not included in any Australian census until 1986. From 1971- 1991 Yugoslavian nationals ranked 4th largest in Australia's post-war migrant intake. Census data has established that Serbs ranked 3rd within the Yugoslav immigrant pool, behind declared
Croat
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...
and
Macedonian ethnicities.
Demographics
![Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Inner Sydney by POA - BCP field 1186 Serbian Total Responses](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Australian_Census_2011_demographic_map_-_Inner_Sydney_by_POA_-_BCP_field_1186_Serbian_Total_Responses.svg)
Serbian Australians comprise 0.36% of Australia's population, with 69.67% residing in the states of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
and
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
alone. Serbs reside mainly in state capitals and major metropolitan areas throughout Australia. The largest Serbian communities can be found predominantly in
Melbourne's western and south-eastern suburbs, and in
Sydney's south-eastern suburbs.
Ancestry
The
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for statistical collection and analysis and for giving evidence-based advice to federal, state and territory governments ...
allows the provision of two ancestries in a multi-response question. In the 2016 census there were 73,901 people in Australia of Serbian descent, 0.31% of the total population. 67.06% of Serbian Australians declared full Serbian ancestry. Individuals identifying as Serbian in the first response comprised 11.84%, whilst 21.09% declared Serbian heritage in the second response.
Countries of origin
Religion
Serbian Australians predominantly belong to the
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches.
The majori ...
of the
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
faith, estimated at approximately 75%. This is due to a statistical discrepancy amongst Serb Australians affiliated within the "Christianity (defined and not defined)" category in the
2016 Australian census
The 2016 Australian census was the 17th national population census held in Australia. The census was officially conducted with effect on Tuesday, 9 August 2016. The total population of the Commonwealth of Australia was counted as – an incre ...
. The largest religious body of Serbian Orthodox Australians is the
, located in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
,
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 ...
.
![Serbian Orthodox Church in Coober Pedy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Serbian_Orthodox_Church_in_Coober_Pedy.jpg)
17.4% of Serbian Australians declared "
No Religion/Not Stated", 5.7% "
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
" whilst 1.4% professed "other faith's".
Notable people
*
Alex Antic – Australian senator
*
Eli Babalj
Eli Babalj (born 21 February 1992) is an Australian footballer who plays as a striker. Alongside Robert Cornthwaite and Sasa Ognenovski, Babalj, at 1.95 m is the joint third tallest player to have represented the Australia national associatio ...
– Soccer player
*
Milan Blagojevic – Soccer player
*
Pedj Bojic
Predrag "Pedj" Bojić (born 9 April 1984) is an Australian football (soccer) player who last played professionally for Sydney FC.
Club career
Bojić's professional career began at Australian club Parramatta Power in the 2000–01 season, wh ...
– Soccer player
*
Nick Cotric - Rugby league player
*
Nik Cubrilovic
Nik Cubrilovic is an Australian former hacker and leading internet security blogger.
__NOTOC__
Personal life
Nik Cubrilovic ( sr, Čubrilović) is an ethnic Serb.
Work
In 2011 he successfully forced Facebook to address a privacy flaw whereby t ...
- Hacker and internet security expert.
*
Miloš Degenek
Miloš Degenek ( ; sr-Cyrl, Милош Дегенек, ; born 28 April 1994) is a professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Serbian club Red Star Belgrade. Born in Croatia, he represents the Australia national team. He is eligible ...
– Soccer player
*
Biljana Dekic – Chess player
*
Bobby Despotovski
Slobodan "Bobby" Despotovski (born 14 July 1971) is an Australian soccer player who played 12 seasons in the top tier of Australian soccer. He played in National Soccer League (NSL) for Heidelberg United and Morwell Falcons before moving to Per ...
– Soccer player and coach
*
Bronko Djura - Cricket and Rugby league player
*
Dirty South – Musician
*
Jelena Dokić
Jelena Dokic ( sr, Јелена Докић, Jelena Dokić; ; born 12 April 1983) is an Australian tennis coach, commentator, writer, and former professional tennis player. Her highest ranking as a tennis player was world No. 4, in August 2002. ...
– Tennis player
*
Dragan Durdevic – Rugby league player
*
Ivan Ergić
Ivan Ergić ( sr-Cyrl, Иван Ергић, ; born 21 January 1981) is a retired Serbian footballer who played as a midfielder.
Born in modern-day Croatia and raised in Australia, he began his career at Perth Glory and was briefly with Juventus ...
– Soccer player
*
Vedrana Grbović
Vedrana Grbović ( sr-Cyrl, Ведрана Грбовић) is a Serbian beauty pageant contestant and model who won the title of Miss Serbia in 2006 and represented her country in Miss World 2006. She graduated from the Curtin University of Techn ...
– Model
*
Dan Ilic
Dan Ilic (born 20 November 1981) is an Australian presenter, comedian and filmmaker. Ilic has been known for his parody work, including videos and ''Beaconsfield: The Musical'', which he wrote, and more recently for his work on the show '' Hungr ...
– Comedian
*
Luke Ivanovic – Soccer player
*
Milan Ivanović
Milan Ivanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Ивановић, ; born 21 December 1960 in Sivac, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a former Serbian Australian football (soccer) player. He also played for Australian national team.
Club career
Ivan ...
– Soccer player
*
Marko Jesic
Marko Jesic (born 7 August 1989 in Fairfield, New South Wales) is an Australian football player of Serbian descent who plays for Marconi Stallions FC.
Club career
Jesic grew up on the streets of Bossley Park in Sydney's south west and was pr ...
– Soccer player
*
Robert Jovicic – Immigration case
*
Sam Kekovich
Sam Kekovich (born 11 March 1950) is an Australian media personality, sports commentator, Australian 'Lambassador' and former Australian rules football player.
He is well known for his controversial behaviour, both on and off the field, and mo ...
– Australian Rules footballer & media personality
*
Ksenija Lukich
Ksenija Lukich or in Serbian Ksenija Lukić (born 12 February 1990) is a Serbian-Australian model and television presenter. She is of Serbian descent and her parents are originally from Serbia and moved to Australia.
Lukich grew up on the North ...
– Model & TV presenter
*
Aleks Marić
Aleksandar "Aleks" Marić (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар "Алекс“ Марић, born 22 October 1984) is an Australian-Serbian former professional basketball player. Marić gained a reputation as a winner over the course of his succ ...
– Basketball player
*
Steven Marković
Steven Marković (born 14 March 1985) is an Australian former professional basketball player.
Early life
Marković was born in the Sydney suburb of Liverpool to a Serbian father and an Italian mother.
Professional career
Marković was a develo ...
– Basketball player
*
Zdravko Micevic – Boxer
*
Katrina Milosevic
Katrina Milosevic (born 25 April 1976) is an Australian actress who has appeared in many television programs and theatre productions, including a starring role in the prison drama series ''Wentworth''.
Biography
Katrina Milosevic was born in ...
- Actress
*
Danny Milosevic – Soccer player
*
Nik Mrdja
Nikola "Nik" Mrdja (born 30 November 1978) is an Australian former soccer player, who played as a striker. Mrdja had a career spanning several National Soccer League (NSL) and A-League clubs from 1998 to 2011, as well as a brief spell in Swede ...
– Soccer player
*
Andrew Nikolic
Andrew Alexander Nikolic (born 20 June 1961) is a former Australian politician, retired senior Australian Army officer, and a former public servant in the Department of Defence. He was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the L ...
– Australian politician and former Australian Army Brigadier
*
Bojana Novakovic
Bojana Novakovic (, sr-Latn, Bojana Novaković) is a Serbian-Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Det. Lizzie Needham on the drama television series '' Instinct'' (2017–2018).
Novakovic's film roles include '' Drag Me to He ...
– Actress
*
Abdullah Numan – Mufti of Serbia
*
Tom Opacic - Rugby League player
*
Andreja Pejic – Model.
*
Vedrana Popovic
Vedrana Popovic (born 10 January 1992 in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is an Australian football (soccer) player who last played for Australian W-League team Brisbane Roar.
Playing career
Popovic has played for Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victo ...
– Soccer player
*
Monika Radulovic
Monika Radulovic; sr, Моника Радуловић, Monika Radulović (born 20 September 1990, in Zavidovići) is a Bosnian-born Serbian Australian model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Australia 2015 and repres ...
– Model
*
Rale Rašić – Soccer coach,
player and media personality
*
Nikola Roganovic – Soccer player
*
Tom Rogic
Tomas Petar Rogic ( ; sr-Cyrl, Томас Петар Рогић, ; born 16 December 1992) is an Australian professional footballer who most recently played as an attacking midfielder for West Bromwich Albion and the Australia national team.
...
– Soccer player
*
Siluan - Metropolitan of Australia and New Zealand
*
Karl Stefanovic
Karl Stefanovic ( sr-Cyrl, Карл Стефановић; born 12 August 1974), also spelt Karl Stefanović, is an Australian television presenter and journalist for the Nine Network.
Stefanovic is currently a co-host of the Nine Network's ...
– TV presenter & journalist
*
Peter Stefanovic
Peter Stefanovic ( sr-Cyrl, Петар Стефановић) is an Australian journalist, reporter and television presenter.
Stefanovic is currently a co-host of ''First Edition (Australian TV program), First Edition'' on Sky News Australia.
H ...
– TV presenter & journalist
*
Daniel Subotic
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...
– Socialite
*
Aleksandar Šušnjar
Aleksandar Šušnjar ( sr-cyrl, Александар Шушњар, born 19 August 1995) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Macarthur FC in the A-League.
Club career
Born in Perth, Šušnjar made his senior ...
– Soccer player
*
Vuko Tomasevic
Vuko Tomašević (born 13 May 1980 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian footballer.
Biography
Tomasevic is best known for putting into the net one of the all-time great National Soccer League goals with the Northern Spirit ...
– Soccer player
*
Nick Cotric - Rugby league player
*
Jake Trbojevic
Jake Trbojevic (born 18 February 1994) also known as “Jurbo” is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the NRL and Australia at international level.
Trbojevic has playe ...
– Rugby league player
*
Tom Trbojevic
Thomas Peter Trbojevic (born 2 October 1996), also nicknamed "Tommy Turbo", is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a as well as a wing and centre for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the NRL and plays for Austra ...
– Rugby league player
*
Doug Utjesenovic - Soccer player
*
Holly Valance
Holly Rachel Candy (; born 11 May 1983), known professionally as Holly Valance, is an Australian actress and singer. Valance began her acting career on the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', as Felicity Scully (1999–2002, 2005, 2022). Sh ...
– Actress, singer and model
*
Olympia Valance
Olympia Montana Valance (born 7 January 1993) is an Australian actress and model, whose roles include Paige Smith in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' (2014–2018, 2020, 2022) and Tahlia Woods in '' Playing for Keeps''. For her role as Paige, Vala ...
– Model and actress
*
Dragan Vasiljković
Dragan Vasiljković ( sr-cyrl, Драган Васиљковић; born 12 December 1954), nicknamed Captain Dragan ( sr, Капетан Драган, Kapetan Dragan) is a convicted war criminal and the former commander of a Serb paramilitary unit ...
– Serbian paramilitary leader
*
Lazar Vidovic – Australian rules footballer
*
Tyla-Jay Vlajnic
Tyla-Jay Vlajnic ( sr-cyr, Таjла Џеj Влаjнић; born 6 November 1990) is an Australian-born Serbian footballer who plays for A-League Women club Western United and the Serbia women's national team. She previously played for Melbour ...
- Soccer player
*
Nick Vujicic
Nicholas James Vujicic ( ; born 4 December 1982) is an Australian American Christian evangelist and motivational speaker of Serbian descent, born with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterised by the absence of arms and legs.
Ea ...
– Christian evangelist
*
Danny Vukovic
Daniel Vukovic ( ; born 27 March 1985) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Central Coast Mariners in the A-League and the Australia national team. Vukovic is the holder of several A-League records: he has ...
– Soccer player
*
B. Wongar – Writer
*
Ursula Yovich
Ursula Yovich is an Aboriginal Australian actress and singer.
Early life and education
Yovich was born and grew up in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Her father, Slobodan Jović, was a Serbian immigrant who anglicised his name to Stan ...
– Actress and singer
*
Lew Zivanovic – Rugby league player
*
Alexandar Popovic – Soccer player
Sports
*
List of Serbian soccer clubs in Australia
As one of the many immigrant, migrant groups in Australia, the Serbian diaspora has contributed to the development of football (soccer), soccer in Australia by the formation of numerous organised football clubs across most states and territories ...
See also
*
Australian-Serbian relations
*
European Australians
European Australians are citizens or residents of Australia whose ancestry originates from the peoples of Europe. They form the largest panethnic group in the country. At the 2021 census, the number of ancestry responses categorised within Eu ...
*
Europeans in Oceania
Age of Discovery, European exploration and settlement of Oceania began in the 16th century, starting with the Spanish people, Spanish (Crown of Castile, Castilian) landings and shipwrecks in the Mariana Islands, east of the Philippines. This was f ...
*
Immigration to Australia
The Australian continent was first settled when ancestors of Indigenous Australians arrived via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea over 50,000 years ago.
European colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of a B ...
*
Serbian New Zealanders
*
Serbian diaspora
Serbian diaspora refers to Serbian emigrant communities in the diaspora. The existence of a numerous diaspora of Serbian nationals is mainly a consequence of either economic or political (coercion or expulsion) reasons.
There were different wa ...
*
Serbian Americans
Serbian Americans ( sr, / ) or American Serbs (), are Americans of Serb ethnic ancestry. As of 2013, there were about 190,000 American citizens who identified as having Serb ancestry. However, the number may be significantly higher, as there w ...
*
Serbian Canadians
The community of Serbian Canadians ( sr, Канадски Срби/Kanadski Srbi) includes Canadian citizens of Serb ethnicity, or people born in Serbia who permanently reside in Canada. Serbs (and Serbians) have migrated to Canada in various wa ...
Annotations
References
External links
Ancestry by Birthplace – Results of 2001 Australian census
{{Serbian diaspora
Serbian diaspora
Immigration to Australia
European Australian
Serb diaspora