Records from the National Archives of Australia
Last week staff from the Adelaide Office of the National Archives of Australia, gave a presentation about Italian migration to South Australia. We learned about the kinds of migration records that are held by the National Archives of Australia (NAA). For example, there are arrival records, applications for naturalisation, applications for sponsoring a relative, records of internment or working for the Allied Works Council during World War II and photos taken by the Government. There are also interesting items of correspondence between individuals and the Commonwealth Government.
The image above was the advertisement for the National Archives of Australia session about Italian migration held on 21 March 2025.
Emily Richardson, the Assistant Director of the Adelaide Office of the National Archives of Australia presented many examples of the records and provided some stories of families who arrived both before and after the War. Emily encouraged attendees to contact the Adelaide Office of the NAA if they were interested in discovering more about the records of their families. If you contact the office which is located in the State Library of South Australia, you could make an appointment with a staff member to do some research. The phone number is 08 9470 7580.
During the presentation, Emily referred to Italian market gardeners in Adelaide – in the eastern suburbs and in the western area where the Veneto market gardeners lived and worked. She acknowledged Frankie Ballestrin who is the son of one of the first-generation Veneto market gardeners and who was in the audience.
One interesting image in the NAA presentation was of an Italian man making coffee in his bar (featured above) – apparently one of the first gelato shops in Adelaide. Does anyone reading this blog recognise that man?
The presentation led me to do a little more research about Italians in South Australia and the following information is the result of that.
An Italian woman arrives in Queensland in 1922
On the NAA website there is a lovely story about Luigia de Lazzari who arrived in Townsville in 1922. A son and two granddaughters celebrated the anniversary of her arrival in the Brisbane research centre of the Archives in 2022.
You can read the story here:
https://www.naa.gov.au/blog/commemorating-100-years-australia
Who was the 250,000th Italian migrant to arrive?
Also on the NAA website there is a story about Antonia Bellomarino who was the 250,000th Italian migrant to arrive in Australia. She and her husband Renzo and two children arrived in Melbourne 1963. They were given a special welcome.
You can read Antonia’s story and view some of the 40 or so photos that were taken of their journey to, and arrival in, Australia:
Some statistics – 2021 Census
In the 2021 Census, over 1 million people in the total population of 25.69 million reported that they had Italian ancestry.
Of the total of 163, 326 Italians born in Italy, the largest group of these arrived between 1951 and 1960 – making up 34% of those born in Italy. Nearly three quarters of them were over 65 years of age which shows that Italian born people in Australia are ageing.
You might be interested in reading some of the data about Italians in Australia who were born in Italy from the 2021 Census:
https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/3104_AUS
A story about Italian migrants in Mount Gambier In 2020, the ABC reported on the Italian community in the South East of South Australia. The story shows the changes in the acceptance of Italians from being outsiders to people who have made significant contributions to the area. Read the story here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-27/how-italian-migrants-left-their-mark-on-australia/12664938
We are Italians after all
Finally, you might like to view a video about Italians in Australia that was made for the 2022 Adelaide Italian Festival, ‘We are Italians after all.’ The video shows representatives of different generations talking about celebrating Italian culture. The video is about 7.5 minutes long and has had 10,000 views.
Madeleine Regan
23 March 2025