Macedonian Australians

Macedonian Australians

Regions with significant populations
Melbourne, Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle, Perth
Languages
Macedonian,Australian English
Religion
Predominantly Orthodox

Macedonian Australians are an ethnic group in Australia. The title Macedonian should not be confused with Greek Macedonian, referring to Greeks who come from the province of Macedonia in northern Greece.

At the 2006 Census 40,655 Australian residents declared they were born in Macedonia. A further 71,994 residents declared they spoke the Macedonian Language at home. In addition 83,978 residents declared being of Macedonian ancestry, either alone or in combination with one other ancestry

Australian cities with the largest Macedonian-born communities are Melbourne (17,286, in particular the outer suburbs), Sydney (11,630, in particular in the southern and Wollongong (4,279 - about 1.6% of the Wollongong population).

Most Macedonian Australians are of the Orthodox Christian faith, although there is a small number of Muslims. 36,749 Macedonian-born Australian residents declared they were Christian, and 2,161 stated they were Muslim.

Major Macedonian Influences in NSW are most evident in the Rockdale and Port Kembla area. Most of these areas have 'Macedonian' shops that range from Delis to Burek Shops. Many Macedonians take part in Culture and Folklore-preserving Groups.

Macedonians have set up soccer clubs in all major cities, including Rockdale Illinden, Bankstown City Lions, Yagoona Lions and Arncliffe (in Sydney), the Shellharbour Suns, Wollongong Utd Barbarians, Coniston, Cringila and Lake Heights (in Wollongong) and Preston Lions and Altona Magic (in Melbourne)

Languages

Most Australian Macedonians use the Macedonian language at home (71,994 out of 83,983). The most significant populations of Macedonian speakers as of 2001 were Melbourne - 30,083, Sydney - 19980, Wollongong- 7420, Perth - 5772, Newcastle - 1993, Geelong - 1300, Queanbeyan - 1105.

Some suburbs where Macedonian is spoken are:

• Sydney

Rockdale, Kogarah, Banksia, Yagoona, Bankstown

• Melbourne

Thomastown, Lalor, Preston

• Wollongong

Cringila, Port Kembla, Warrawong

• Perth

Dianella

In 2001 Cringila was the "most Macedonian" suburb in all of Australia with 32.8% of the population speaking Macedonian at home.

The Macedonian language is one of the most mantained languages amongst Australia's Migrant Communities. Within second generation Macedonians only 7.9% spoke English at home compared with Italians - 50.3%, Poles - 72.6%, Greeks -16.6% and Germans - 91.2%.

History of ethnic Macedonians in Australia

Macedonians have been arriving in Australia since the late 1880s on Pečalba. Pečalbari (the man in the family) would go and work overseas to earn money then return home with the spoils. This restricted major settlement. The two major waves of early Macedonian migration according to Peter Hill were when, in 1924 America implemented tougher immigration policies and in 1936 when the Ioannis Metaxas regime came into power.After WW2 and the Greek Civil War many Macedonians from Greece came to Australia, these people are known as Aegean Macedonians, they settled in areas including Richmond and Footscray.

When the Yugoslav policy of Overseas Work was started many Yugoslav Macedonians left for Australia. The peak of this Migration was in the early 1970s. They settled in mainly industrial districts. Many Yugoslav Macedonians would also settle the Major Cities and the go off to work in far away parts of Australia such as Port Hedland. Most of these immigrants were from agricultural background. Macedonian migration sharply stopped by the 1980s only to restart in the early 1990s after the breakup of Yugoslavia.

In 1994 the Victorian state premier Jeff Kennett ordered government departments and agencies to use the term 'Slav Macedonian' to describe such people. Some analysts considered the measure was an effort to shore up electoral support from Victoria's large Greek Australian community. A court eventually repealed the decision in 1998 and since then the prefix "slavo-" has been dropped.

Organizations

• United Macedonian Diaspora

Media and Newspapers

Macedonian Newspapers have been a common sight in many Australian Newsagencies for close to thirty years. Notable Newspapers are:

• Australian Macedonian Weekly
• Denes
• Makedonska Iskra
• Kompas
• Makedonija

There are many Macedonian Radio stations througout Sydney, Melbourne, Wollongong, Newcastle, New South Wales, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra.

There are two Macedonian Theatres operating in Australia they include; Illawarra Macedonian Theatre and The Melbourne Macedonian Theatre who have produced videos such as: Vujna ot Melbourne,Vujche ot Amerika and Stari Kraj so Jumbo Jet.

Social Information

Second Generation Macedonians are the most likely to own or to be purchasing a houseing according to a ABS study. Of the Second Generation 83% of 25-34 year olds and 91% of 35-44 year olds were in the process of buying a house or already own one, compared to second generation New Zealanders - 53% and 65%, second generation Germans - 63% and 75%.

Apart from second generation Lebanese, second generation Macedonians were the least likely to co habit with only 1% of females and 6.5% of males cohabiting (in a couple situation), compared to Germans - 24.2% and 27.3% respectively and Australians - 22% and 29% respectively.

Second Generation Macedonians also had divorce/seperation/widow rates which were nearly half the national average at 20%. Macedonians (10%) were followed by Lebanese 11% and Chinese 11.5%

List of notable Macedonian Australians

Artists and media

• Toni Maticevski - Fashion designer
• Bill Neskovski - Playwright

Sports

• John Markovski - Former Socceroo
• Saso Petrovski - Socceroo
• Mile Sterjovski - Socceroo (member of 2006 World Cup squad)
• Spase Dilevski - Olympic Socceroo
• Billy Celeski - Olympic Socceroo
• David Micevski - Olympic Socceroo
• Zlatko Nastevski - 1989 NSL Player of the year
• Sasa Ognenovski - A-League player
• Spase Dilevski - Olyroo
• Cane Despotovski - Illawarra soccer player of the year
• Naum Sekulovski - A-League player
• Alex Temelkov - Retired Australian professional boxer
• Ivan Necevski - Sydney FC

Politics

• Kiril Jonovski - Former Deputy Lord Mayor of Wollongong
• Bill Saravinovski - Lord Mayor of Rockdale City