Dutch Australians () refers to

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...

of Dutch ancestry. They form one of the largest groups of the

Dutch diaspora The Dutch diaspora consists of Dutch people, the Dutch and their descendants living outside the Netherlands. Emigration from the Netherlands has been occurring for since at least the 17th century, and may be traced back to the international pre ...

outside Europe. At the 2021 census, 381,946 people nominated Dutch ancestry (whether alone or in combination with another ancestry), representing 1.5% of the Australian population. At the 2021 census, there were 66,481 Australian residents who were born in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

History

Early history

The history of the Dutch and Australia began with Captain

Willem Janszoon Willem Janszoon (; ) was a Dutch navigator and colonial governor. He served in the Dutch East Indies in the periods 1603–1611 and 1612–1616, including as governor of Fort Henricus on the island of Solor. During his voyage of 1605–1606 ...

, a Dutch seafarer, who was the first European to land on Australian soil (which he christened as New Holland) in 1606. The

Dutch East Indies Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States General of the Neth ...

(VOC) had its headquarters in the Far East in Batavia (now

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

) from 1619 but traded from many Asian harbours from 1602. The journey from the Netherlands to the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

would take more than a year by traditional route, but after the discovery of the

Roaring Forties The Roaring Forties are strong westerlies, westerly winds that occur in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40th parallel south, 40° and 50th parallel south, 50° south. The strong eastward air currents are caused by ...

by Dutch Captain Hendrick Brouwer, who established the so-called Brouwer Route in 1611, the voyage would be cut short by months by taking a trajectory along the southern latitudes of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. By 1617 all VOC ships were ordered to take that route. The navigation technique of that time, known as

dead reckoning In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating the current position of a moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and incorporating estimates of speed, heading (or direction or course), and elapsed time. T ...

, caused some ships to travel too far east and so they sighted the Australian west coast, and a small number of them were wrecked there.

Dirk Hartog Dirk Hartog (; baptised 30 October 1580 – buried 11 October 1621) was a 17th-century Dutch sailor and explorer. Dirk Hartog's expedition was the second European group to land in Australia and the first to leave behind an artifact to record hi ...

made the first European landing of the Australian west coast with a pewter plate in 1616. Known ships wrecked off that include the '' Batavia'', the '' Vergulde Dreak'', the '' Zuytdorp'' and the ''

Zeewijk The ''Zeewijk'' (or ''Zeewyk'') was an 18th-century East Indiaman of the Dutch East India Company (, commonly abbreviated to VOC) that was shipwrecked at the Houtman Abrolhos, off the coast of Western Australia, on 9 June 1727. The survivors ...

''. The wreck of the ''Batavia'' on

Houtman Abrolhos The Houtman Abrolhos (often called the Abrolhos Islands) is a chain of 122 islands and associated coral reefs in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia about west of Geraldton, Western Australia. It is the southernmost true coral r ...

during her maiden voyage turned into a bloody mutiny, led by Jeronimus Corneliszoon, after the survivors had landed on an island and Commander Pelsaert had left to get help. On his return, he court-marshalled the mutineers, some of whom were hanged. Wouter Loos and Jan Pelgrom the Bie were convicted mutineers, but because of their youth, they put on the mainland with some provisions to fend for themselves. They became arguably the first convicts to be dumped on the mainland. The most famous Dutch seafarer to explore the Australian coasts is

Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch sea explorer, seafarer and exploration, explorer, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first European to reach New ...

, who was the first to circumvigate the continent, in 1642–1643. He established that the land was not the gigantic legendary southern continent that included the South Pole and named the land '' New Holland''.

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, which Tasman had named

Van Diemens Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal-inhabited island was first visited by the Dutch ship captained by Abel Tasm ...

and the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

, were eventually named after him. Most of the Australian coastline, excluding the east coast and the eastern part of the south coast, was first charted by VOC mariners. The continent would be renamed "

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

" in the 19th century.

20th century

A number of people from the

(present-day

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

) found their way to Australia during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and joined Allied forces in the fight against the Japanese. The Dutch East Indies government operated from Australia during the war. Free Dutch Submarines operated out of

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

after the invasion of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

. The joint No. 18 and No. 120

RAAF The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...

squadrons formed at Canberra, and was a combined Dutch and Australian Squadron. It used B-25 Mitchell bombers, supplied by the Dutch Government before the war. The Netherlands East Indies Forces Intelligence Service (NEFIS) was based in Melbourne during the war. Post-war settlers in Australia arrived as part of Australia's assisted migration program. Many arrived by sea on the MS ''Johan van Oldenbarnevelt'', while others flew with

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),

Demographics

Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Inner Sydney by SLA - BCP field 1072 Dutch Total Responses

At the 2021 census, 381,946 people nominated Dutch ancestry (whether alone or in combination with another ancestry), representing 1.5% of the Australian population. At the 2021 census, there were 66,481 Australian residents who were born in the

. Besides Netherlands, large number of Australians with Dutch Ancestry have origin from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. These countries have had a long and extensive History of Dutch Colonialism.

Notable Dutch Australians

* Brendon Ah Chee,

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er *

Callum Ah Chee Callum Ah Chee (born 9 October 1997) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Ah Chee was born in Derby, Western Australia, Australia. His mother is Indigenous Aust ...

, Australian rules footballer * Leila Alcasid, singer and songwriter * Beeb Birtles, musician *

Andrew Bolt Andrew Bolt (born 26 September 1959) is an Australian conservative social and political commentator. He has worked at the News Corp-owned newspaper company The Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) for many years, for both '' The Herald'' and its succ ...

, political commentator *

Dirk Bolt Dirk Bolt (24 October 1930 – 13 December 2020) was a Dutch-born architect who is best known for his post-Second World War Australian modernist architecture and his later career as an academic and consultant that applied sustainable, equitable ...

, architect * Stephanie Brantz, sports presenter * Paul Cox, filmmaker *

Guillaume Daniel Delprat Guillaume Daniel Delprat Order of the British Empire, CBE (1 September 1856 – 15 March 1937) was a Netherlands, Dutch-Australian metallurgy, metallurgist, mining engineer, and businessman. He was a developer of the froth flotation process f ...

, GM BHP * Joe de Bruyn *

Mitchell Langerak Mitchell James Langerak ( ; born 22 August 1988) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Melbourne Victory. Club career Melbourne Victory Langerak signed his first professional contract in February 2007, with A-Le ...

Chris Vermeulen Christopher Vermeulen (born 19 June 1982) is a retired Australian motorcycle racer. He competed in the Supersport World Championship and the Superbike World Championship before racing in the premier Grand Prix motorcycle racing#MotoGP class, Mot ...

Kate Langbroek Katherine Langbroek is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. Langbroek currently hosts Nine Network's reality program ''My Mum Your Dad''. She is also a regular presenter on '' The Project'' and co-hosts the show on Tuesday nig ...

, broadcaster and comedian * Dick Dusseldorp, filmmaker * John Elferink * Joanna Gash * Kurt Lambeck, geophysicist and glaciologist *

Rolf de Heer Rolf de Heer (born 4 May 1951) is a Dutch Australian film director. De Heer was born in Heemskerk in the Netherlands but migrated to Sydney when he was eight years old.

, filmmaker *

Chris Hemsworth Christopher Hemsworth (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian actor. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, and Bulman, Northern Territory, he rose to prominence playing Kim Hyde in the Australian television series ''Home and Away'' (2004� ...

, actor *

Liam Hemsworth Liam Hemsworth (born 13 January 1990) is an Australian actor. He played the roles of Josh Taylor (Neighbours), Josh Taylor in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' and Marcus in the children's television series ''The Elephant Princess''. In American fi ...

, actor * Annita Keating van Iersel * Hendrik (Hank) Koopman, country music artistthe book of Australian Country Music. The Berghouse Floyd Tuckey Publishing Company *

Willy Lust Wilhelmina Maria "Willy" "Wil" Lust (later Postma, born 19 June 1932) is a retired Dutch track-and-field athlete. She won a silver medal in the long jump at the 1950 European Athletics Championships. Two years later she competed at the 1952 Summe ...

, athlete *

Gerlof Mees Gerlof Fokko Mees (16 June 1926 – 31 March 2013) was a Dutch ichthyologist, ornithologist and museum curator. During 1946 to 1949 he took part as a conscript in the military actions to reestablish rule in the Dutch East Indies. During that time ...

, ornithologist, curator, and ichthyologist * Dirk Nannes *

Jan Ruff O'Herne Jeanne Alida "Jan" Ruff-O'Herne (18 January 1923 – 19 August 2019) was a Dutch Australian of Irish ancestry and human rights activist known for campaigning internationally against war rape. During World War II, Ruff-O'Herne was forced into s ...

, human rights activist * Ryan Papenhuyzen, rugby league player * Nonja Peters * Eric Roozendaal * Roy Rene, comedian & vaudevillian *

Ben Rutten Benjamin Rutten (born 28 May 1983) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He was the senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) in 2021 and 2022. As a player, he played for the Adelaide Fo ...

, Australian rules footballer *

Alexander Smits Alexander John Smits (born December 25, 1948) is an Australian-American engineer and academic who is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Emeritus, at Princeton University. He is also the director of the Gas dyn ...

* Lina Teoh, model, actress, TV host, former Channel VJ, and former beauty queen ( Miss World 1998), born to Dutch mother *

Harry Vanda Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg (born 22 March 1946), better known as Harry Vanda, is a Dutch-Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band the Easybeats who wi ...

* Richard Vandenberg, Australian rules footballer *

Nathan Van Berlo Nathan van Berlo (born 6 June 1986) is a former Australian rules football player who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by the club with pick 24 in the 2004 National Draft. He was the c ...

, Australian rules footballer *

Timm van der Gugten Timm van der Gugten (born 25 February 1991) is an Australian–Dutch international cricketer who made his debut for the Netherlands national team in January 2012. He was born in Australia, and has also played for several teams in Australian do ...

, cricketer * Paul Vander Haar * Michelle van Eimeren, former beauty queen and former actress and TV host in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

* Dan van Holst Pellekaan - 14th Deputy Premier of South Australia * Alfred van der Poorten, number theorist *

Peter van Onselen Peter van Onselen is an Australian academic, author, commentator, and political journalist. He is professor of politics and public policy at the University of Western Australia, and he is political editor of '' Daily Mail Australia'', having s ...

, author & academic * Bert van Manen *

Jan Hendrik Scheltema Jan Hendrik Scheltema (23 August 1861, in The Hague – 9 December 1941, in Brisbane), was a Dutch and later Australian painter who had a prolific, often strenuous, and arguably impressive career in Australia considering he was a non-British mi ...

, artist * Tammy van Wisse *

Johnny Young Johnny Young (born Johnny Benjamin de Jong, 12 March 1947, Rotterdam, Netherlands) is an Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. He had a number-one hit with the double-A-sided single, "Step Bac ...

* Gus Winckel, military officer and pilot * Richard Woldendorp, photographer * Scott Edwards (cricketer), captain of The Netherlands Cricket team * John van Lieshout, Queensland's richest person, from furniture stores and real estate development

References

External links

Netherlands–Australia, 1606–2006

Dutch in Australia at the Australian War Memorial

Dutch Club in South Australia
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