Lebanese Australian

Lebanese Australians

Notable Lebanese Australians: Steve Bracks, David Malouf, Bachar Houli
Total population
Lebanese 181,751 (by ancestry, 2006) 74,848 (by birth, 2006).
Regions with significant populations
Sydney (72.8% of Lebanese-born Australian residents), Melbourne, Brisbane
Languages
Australian English, Lebanese Arabic, Standard Arabic, French
Religion
Christian (53%), Muslim (40%)
Related ethnic groups
Arab diaspora, Sierra Leonean-Lebanese, Lebanese Americans, Lebanese Canadians, Ecuadorian of Lebanese origin, Lebanese Brazilians, Arab Argentines, Lebanese British, Arab Mexicans

A Lebanese Australian is an Australian citizen or permanent resident of Lebanese descent. The community is multi-religious, and includes a Christian, mostly Maronite Catholic, majority, as well as a large Muslim minority of both the Shia and Sunni branches of Islam, and various other Christian and Muslim denominations, as well as other religions.

Lebanon, in both its modern-day form as the Lebanese state (declared in 1920, granted independence in 1942) and its historical form as the region of the Lebanon, has been a source of migrants to Australia for over two centuries. Some 181,751 Australians claim Lebanese ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry. The 2006 census recorded 74,848 Lebanese-born people in Australia, with 72.8% of all people with Lebanese ancestry living in Sydney, where they make up 2.3% of Sydney's population.

In New South Wales, the Western Sydney suburbs of Bankstown, Lakemba, Auburn, Granville and Punchbowl are largely associated with the Lebanese population, as in Victoria are the Northern Melbourne suburbs of Broadmeadows and Coburg, Brunswick, Fawkner and Altona.

Community history

As part of a large scale emigration in the 1870s, numerous Lebanese (mostly Christians) migrated in great numbers out of Lebanon to various destinations. Most emigrated to Brazil and other Latin American nations, particularly Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. Many also went to the United States, and others to Australia, primarily to the eastern states, and most to New South Wales in particular.

Thus, Australia's Lebanese population is one of the older established non-English speaking minorities in the country (though many Lebanese people now speak English, to a greater or lesser extent). Although it is considerably smaller in numbers to Greek Australians, Italian Australians, or German Australians, they are nonetheless of a similar vintage.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1890s, there were increasing numbers of Lebanese immigrants to Australia, part of the mass emigration from the area of the Lebanon that would become the modern Lebanese state, and also from the Anti-Lebanon region of what would become Syria.

Under the White Australia policy of the nineteenth century (and with Lebanon being located in the Middle East, geographically known as South West Asia) Lebanese migrants were classified as Asians and came within the scope of the White Australia policy which intentionally restricted non-white immigration to Australia. Lebanese migrants, like others deemed non-white by Australian law, were excluded from citizenship, the right to vote and employment, and were treated as enemy aliens during World War I and World War II. In 1897 Lebanese store keepers and businesses were accused of fraud by state border Customs officers during Queensland customs prosecution cases.

Prior to 1918, Lebanese migrants to Australia were not habitually distinguished from Turks because the area of modern Lebanon was a province of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Administration then passed to the French Mandate for several decades, which ruled it together with what would become Syria, its neighbour. Hence, for that period, the Lebanese were not distinguished from Syrians.

One dot denotes 100 Lebanese-born Sydney residents

One dot denotes 100 Lebanese-born Melbourne residents

From 1920, people from Lebanon (and Syria) were granted access to Australian citizenship as the Nationality Act 1920 removed the racial disqualification from the naturalisation laws.

By 1947, there were 1,886 Lebanese-born in Australia, almost all Christian. The Lebanese born population numbered 24,218 in 1971 and had doubled to 49,617 in 1981. Following the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, more than 20,000 civil war refugees arrived in Australia. This wave of migrants were often poor and for the first time, over half of them were Muslim. This influx of new migrants changed the character of the established Lebanese community in Australia significantly, especially in Sydney where 75% of the Lebanese-born population were concentrated.

For the remainder of the 1970s and 1980s, unrest in Lebanon caused a large increase in the number of Lebanese migrating to Australia, continuing with a significant proportion being comprised by Muslims.

In 1991, there were 68,787 people who were first generation immigrants born in Lebanon and 67,453 second generation people associated with Lebanon as a birthplace.

The Lebanese in Melbourne have opened restaurants and groceries and Middle Eastern shops and Lebanese bars on Sydney Road which is sometimes called "Little Lebanon".

Following the trials for a series of gang rape attacks in Sydney in 2000 by a group of Lebanese, the Lebanese Muslim Australian community came under significant scrutiny by the media in addition to a more general anti-Muslim backlash after the 11 September 2001 attacks. Community concern and divisiveness continued in the wake of the 2005 Cronulla riots in Sydney.

Religious diversity

Most Lebanese people today live outside of Lebanon. Because of the prolonged emigration of Lebanese Christians for the last two centuries (leading to their depletion in Lebanon itself), today, an estimated 55% of Lebanese in Lebanon are Muslim (having become the majority in the last two to three decades). Of the Lebanese outside of Lebanon, known also as the Lebanese diaspora, the majority is Christian.

In Australia, 53% of Lebanese are Christian, while a large minority (40%) are Muslim, of those born in Lebanon.

All main Lebanese religious groups — Christians, including Maronites, Melkites, Greek Orthodox, Orthodox and Catholic Lebanese Armenians, Muslims, including Shi'a and Sunnis denominations; Druze, amongst others — are now represented.

Return migration

Lebanese Australians have a moderate rate of return migration to Lebanon. In December 2001, the Department of Foreign Affairs estimated that there were 25,000 Australian citizens resident in Lebanon.

During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, the Australian Government organised mass evacuations of Australians resident in Lebanon.

Notable Lebanese Australians

Name	Born – Died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with Lebanon
Anthony Alexander Alam	1896–1983	member of the New South Wales Legislative Council	born Australia	parents born Lebanon
Joseph Assaf	1945	Multicultural Businessman	has Australian Citizenship	born in Lebanon
Mireille Astore	1961	Artist and writer	emigrated to Australia	born in Lebanon
Ron Bakir	1977	Mobile phone retailer	emigrated to Australia	born in Lebanon
Max Basheer	1927	Former administrator with the South Australian National Football League	born Australia	parents born Lebanon
Marie Bashir	1930	Governor of New South Wales	born Australia	parents born in Lebanon
Steve Bracks	1954	Former Premier of Victoria	born Australia	paternal grandfather born in Lebanon
Firass Dirani	1984	actor	born Australia	of Lebanese origin
Sam Doumany		Former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice in Queensland
Hazem El Masri	1976	Canterbury Bulldogs Rugby league player	migrated to Australia as child	born Lebanon
Nazih Elasmar	1954	member of the Victorian Legislative Council	migrated to Australia	born Lebanon
Benny Elias	1963	Former National Rugby League player	migrated to Australia as a child	born Lebanon
Ahmad Elrich	1981	International soccer player	born Australia	Lebanese descent
Tarek Elrich	1987	Newcastle United Jets soccer player	born Australia	Lebanese descent
Robbie Farah	1984	Wests Tigers Rugby league player	born Australia	father emigrated from Lebanon c. 1960
Buddy Farah	1978	FIFA agent - Ex soccer player	born in Australia	of Lebanese descent
Joe Hachem	1966	2005 World Series of Poker champion	migrated to Australia as child	born Lebanon
Milham Hanna		former Australian rules footballer with Carlton	grew up in Australia	born Lebanon
Joe Hasham	1948	actor	emigrated to Australia as infant	born in Lebanon
Bachar Houli	1988	Australian Rules Football player	born Australia	parents born Lebanon
Sabrina Houssami	1986	2006 Australian representative at Miss World	born Australia	Lebanese father
John Ibrahim	1970	Underworld figure	born Australia
Tamara Jaber	1982	member of pop band Scandal'us	born Australia	Lebanese father
Bob Katter, Sr.	1918–1990	member for Federal Division of Kennedy 1966-1990	born Australia	Lebanese descent
Bob Katter	1945	member for Federal Division of Kennedy 1993	born Australia	Lebanese descent, son of Katter, Sr.
Bilal Khazal		Jailed Al-Qaeda associate, jihadist, Qantas baggage handler	working Australia	born Lebanon
Tim Mannah	1988	Parramatta Eels Rugby League player	born Australia	Lebanese descent
David Malouf	1934	writer	born Australia	father Lebanese
Daryl Melham	1954	member of the Australian House of Representatives	born in Australia	father migrated from Lebanon
Cesar Melhem	1965	Victorian state secretary of Australian Workers' Union	migrated to Australia	born in Lebanon
Feiz Mohammad		Fundamentalist cleric	born in Australia
Tony Mokbel	1965	convicted drug trafficker and prison fugitive	emigrated to Australia	Born in Kuwait father originally from Lebanon
Fehmi Naji	1928	Grand Mufti of Australia		born in Lebanon
Paul Nakad	1975	actor and hip hop artist	born Australia	Lebanese descent
Jacques Nasser	1947	Former CEO of Ford Motors	raised in Australia	born Lebanon
Eddie Obeid	1943	NSW Member of the Legislative Council, former NSW Minister for Fisheries and Mineral Resources and key power broker in the NSW Right of the ALP	working in Australia	born Matrit (also spelt Metrit) Bsharri District
Barbara Perry		NSW parliamentarian	born Australia	parents born Lebanon
Roger Rasheed	1969	international tennis coach and former player	born Australia	father migrated from Lebanon
Joseph Saba	1940	Fashion designer	born in Australia	Lebanese descent
Nicholas Shehadie	1926	Lord Mayor of Sydney (1973–1975)	born Australia	of Lebanese descent
Bilal Skaf	1981	led a series of gang rape attacks in Sydney in 2000	born Australia	parents born Lebanon and emigrated to Australia
John Symond		Founder and Managing Director of Aussie Group	born Australia	parents born Lebanon
Keysar Trad		Muslim community spokesman	migrated to Australia	born in Lebanon
Salim Wardeh	1968	Minister of Culture in Lebanon	has Australian citizenship
Petra Yared	1979	Australian television actor	born in Australia	Lebanese descent
Doris Younane	1963	Actress	born in Australia	Parents born Lebanon

See also

• Christianity in Australia
• Islam in Australia
• Religion in Australia
• 2005 Cronulla riots
• Sydney gang rapes

External links

• Australian Lebanese Historical Society
• Lebanese-Australian Embassy
• United Australian Lebanese movement
• World Lebanese Cultural Union (WLCU) Geographic-Regional Council (GRC) for Australia and New Zealand