CENTENARY OF FEDERATION

First Vietnamese ‘boat people’ refugees arrive in Darwin. (1976)

Vietnamese refugees began arriving in Australia following the war in their country that largely came to an end in 1975. Many people were forced to live in refugee camps in various parts of south east Asia while they waited to find another home. Some were so desperate that they travelled to Australia in dangerous, overcrowded boats, suffering terrible conditions on the way. By 1987 more than 100,000 people from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia had found new homes in Australia. As it had done before, Australia opened its doors to some of the many people around the world who had lost their homes and often their families due to war and oppression.

http://www.historysmiths.com.au/CentFedPlayKit/events/ozall/1976_first%20vietnamese%20boat%20people.htm