People & Places

A Living Heritage

The New Italy Museum Complex tells the intriguing tale of a group of northern Italian families who made their home in the Australian bush from 1882. *

Supported by the Powerhouse Museum and NSW Migration Heritage Centre.

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A Place for Everyone

Like Bonegilla, Bathurst was one of the major migrant reception centres in Australia. It accepted around 100,000 migrants between 1948 and 1952. Reminisce or learn about the rich history of the former camp at Bathurst.

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A Place For The Friendless Female

The Female Immigration Depot (1848 to 1886) was the primary reception and hiring depot in Sydney for thousands of Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh female immigrants.

An Historic Houses Trust and NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition.

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At The Beach

Botany Bay is one of the most significant places in the history of migration to Australia. After the arrival of the British First Fleet and the French Lapérouse Expedition in 1788 the European colonisation of Australia began.

A NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition.

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Belongings

Winner 2010 National Trust Heritage Award. Memories, personal mementos and photographs of former migrants who arrived in Australia in the decades after the Second World War.

A NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition in partnership with local government and community organisations.

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Ben Fatto Bene (Well made: well done)

The Italian-Australian community is ageing. How do elderly people spend their days? View stories of seven people who have left their mark on the Illawarra through their talents and skills.

An It.So.Wel. Wollongong documentary supported by the Community Relations Commission for a Multicultural NSW.

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Bonegilla Migrant Experience

Visit the former Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre and share in the real life stories of the people who lived and worked there.

View ‘The Bonegilla Story’ exhibition at the Albury LibraryMuseum »

Supported by the NSW Migration Heritage Centre.

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Did You Know…?

Did You Know? illustrates the important role migrants have played in the economic and social development of Australia.

A Community Relations Commission for a Multicultural NSW and NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition.

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Faith, Fashion, Fusion

Muslim women in Australia choose to dress in diverse ways. Some dress modestly in new styles made by Western Sydney fashion designers. This exhibition explores the lives of women enjoying the new trends and the entrepreneurs making them.

A Powerhouse Museum exhibition supported by the NSW Migration Heritage Centre. At the Museum from 5 May 2012.

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Families Of Fortune (Video)

Chinese migrants to the Tweed established themselves as market gardeners, banana growers, cooks, herbalists and shopkeepers. Personal stories and photos are recorded in this documentary.

A Tweed River Regional Museum and the NSW Migration Heritage Centre video.

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Fields Of Memories

Scheyville National Park, in North-Western Sydney, was the location of an agricultural training farm for English child migrants in the early 20th century, and later a migrant accommodation centre after the Second World War.

A NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition.

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From All Four Corners

Winner 2008 Local Government Cultural Award. Explore personal stories of Wagga Wagga’s migrants through nine videos.

View this Museum of the Riverina and NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition at the Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens site.

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From Estonia To Thirlmere

Thirlmere’s Estonians, who worked in the New South Wales poultry industry from 1927 to 1967, recall surviving war, adapting to ‘Displaced Persons’ camp life, journeying and their experiences of settling and farming in South-Western Sydney.

A Wollondilly Heritage Centre and NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition.

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Gold And Silver

Discover four personal accounts of refugees and migrants from Vietnam who have made new homes and attachments in South-Western Sydney.

A NSW Migration Heritage Centre, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and University of Technology, Sydney exhibition.

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Half A World Away

Highly Commended 2008 National Trust Heritage Awards. A showcase for the enormous contribution migrants have made to the economy and cultural life of Orange in the Central West of New South Wales.

An Orange Regional Gallery and NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition.

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Half A World Away – Part 2

Highly Commended 2008 National Trust Heritage Awards. An online resource about migrants living in Orange in the Central West of New South Wales.

An Orange Regional Gallery resource supported by the NSW Migration Heritage Centre.

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Journey To A New Life

Italian migration and life in New South Wales from the late nineteenth century to the present through a selection of 24 photographs and objects.

A Co.As.It. and NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition.

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Leaving Cambodia

Cambodia was devastated by the totalitarian Khmer Rouge Pol Pot regime. For every two people who survived, one person perished.

Now living in Western Sydney, six survivors share their memories with the NSW Migration Heritage Centre in compelling video histories.

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Making Multicultural Australia

Teaching resources and strategies to understand cultural diversity and tolerance. More than 3500 pages of articles, research, teacher guides, lesson plans, audio interviews, video clips and Australian multicultural artworks.

Supported by the Community Relations Commission for a Multicultural NSW and the NSW Migration Heritage Centre.

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Meie Uus Kodu (Our New Home)

Stories of invasion, dispossession, and settling in a new home, told by the Estonian migrants who came to South-Western Sydney as Displaced Persons post-WW2.

A Powerhouse Museum exhibition supported by the NSW Migration Heritage Centre and Wollondilly Heritage Centre.

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My Own Boss

Lightning Ridge, 75 km north of Walgett, is the only place in the world where the exquisite black opal is mined in quantity and sold in the rough. People have come from around the world to find their fortunes in this outback town.

A Lightning Ridge Historical Society and NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition.

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National Quilt Register

Old quilts carry memories about our history, needlework and provide a rich insight into women’s lives. The Register features many Greek and other community quilts.

A Pioneer Women’s Hut, Tumbarumba Register supported by the NSW Migration Heritage Centre.

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New Australia

The Snowy Mountains Scheme is not just a great feat of engineering; it is also a great social achievement with its multi-national workforce contributing to the cultural mix we enjoy today.

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Objects Through Time

Winner 2009 National Trust Heritage Award. An online journey to view fascinating objects and explore important chapters, places and events in Australian migration history.

A NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition in partnership with local government and community organisations.

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On Their Own

A better life? Understand the loneliness of child migrants separated from their homeland and sent to our shores in an online exhibition.

A collaboration between the Australian National Maritime Museum and National Museums Liverpool, UK with research assistance from the Fairbridge Heritage Association and NSW Migration Heritage Centre.

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Our Newspapers Online

Our Newspapers Online features first editions and histories of community newspapers, highlighting their vital role in supporting and informing communities across New South Wales.

A NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition supported by community newspapers.

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Packing To Leave

View mini-documentaries filmed in people’s homes. Former migrants share their personal stories, photos and memorabilia.

A NSW Migration Heritage Centre and Powerhouse Museum exhibition.

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Pai Nai Ma

Pai Nai Ma means ‘where have you been?’. From the Loy Krathong festival to Buddhist temples, Thai culture has become a part of the Parramatta, Western Sydney and wider Australian story.

A Parramatta Heritage Centre and NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition.

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Prisoners In Arcady

Winner 2009 Museums and Galleries NSW IMAGinE Award. Discover the story of captured German mariners and their internment at Berrima during World War One.

A Berrima District Museum and NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition.

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Real Stories

Journey through the stories of migrants who work at South-Western Sydney’s Liverpool Health Services, in a series of online documentaries. Hear them talk about the successes and frustrations of establishing a new life here in Australia.

A Liverpool Health Services and NSW Migration Heritage Centre exhibition supported by the NSW Refugee Health Service.

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