Joseph Potaski was the first person from Poland to arrive in Australia. He was sent there from Great Britain as a convict. He became a prosperous wheat farmer.

In 1839 Sir Paul Edmund Strzelecki arrived in Sydney. He is known as the first Australian greenie because of his concern about the natural environment of Australia. Strzelecki discovered gold in Tasmania close to Bathhurst.

During 1856 the first Polish settlers arrived in South Australia at a place known as Clare Valley region which became known as Polish Hill River.

Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth are four of the many cities in Australia where the largest Polish born Australians can be found living. According to a 2006 census there were 52, 254 Australians who proclaimed they had been born in Poland. Read the rest of this entry