Romanian Australians may include those who have immigrated to Australia from Romania, and Australian-born citizens of Romanian descent. According to ABS (2021 census) figures, there are 28,103 people with Romanian ancestry in Australia.
Romanians were registered in Australia for the first time more than 80 years ago having emigrated for work seeking a more prosperous economic status, or as missionaries. But the first wave of Romanian emigrants to Australia came after World War II, when Romania was experiencing severe economic and political problems. The Romanians who were then emigrating to Australia principally settled in areas around Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The number of Romanians who came to Australia at the time is estimated to be around 2,000 people.
The second wave of Romanian emigration to the Australian continent began after the Romanian Revolution of 1989, when the Communist regime fell and citizens received the right to leave Romania. They came in large numbers for the same reasons as the first-wave immigrants.
Demographics
the largest communities of Romanian-Australians could be found in Melbourne (6,482), Sydney (4,145)and Brisbane (1,912).
In the 2006 Census, among Romanian-born persons, the religious breakdown was as follows: 80.6% Christianity, 5.8% no religion or atheism, 4.4% Judaism, 3.0% other religions and 5.6% did not answer the question.
A small number of Romanian Australians are ethnic Greeks. They founded the Greeks from Romania NSW Association "The Acropolis" based in Sydney.
Notable Romanian Australians
Victor Albert Bailey, physicist (his mother was Romanian) Traian Chirilă, chemist Carin Clonda, squash player Greg Conescu, rugby league footballer Daniela Costian, Olympic bronze medalist; Andrew Ilie, tennis player Daniel Ioniță, poet Lucy Kiraly, model and television presenter Ted Theodore, 12th Treasurer of Australia (his father was Romanian) Anthony Fisher, prelate, Archbishop of Sydney Hagi Gligor, footballer Raimond Gaita, philosopher and writer (his father was Romanian) Daniela Nuțu-Gajić, chess player Ajdin Hrustic, footballer Elsa Pataky, actress Lance Picioane, Australian rules footballer Ion Popa, rower Rosemary Popa, rower Julian Savulescu, philosopher and bioethicist Lauren Mitchell, artistic gymnast Mirka Mora, prominent artist (her mother was Romanian) Aida Tomescu, artist Xonia, singer Edmond Lupancu, footballer