Today some 30 per cent of Australia’s population was born overseas, double the proportion in the US and the UK. How has Australia managed to add so many people so quickly and still maintain social cohesion? And how might our immigration mix change in the decades ahead?

For our first Ramsay Event for 2025, the Ramsay Centre is pleased to present an in-person lecture by Bernard Salt AM together with Professor James Curran titled: Welcome to Oz – Immigration 1788-2100. 

Leading social commentator and demographer Bernard Salt and eminent historian and journalist James Curran discuss changes to Australia’s demography and the political and cultural history of Australian immigration, from the gold-rush, to Federation, to the post-war era, to today. Bernard Salt delivers the main address with James Curran providing additional insights.

Please join us for this stimulating exploration of the critical role that immigration has played in Australia’s development and how it is likely to continue to define us in the 21st century.