Timorese Migration to Australia
Eight movements over eighty years, from wartime evacuation to the PALM scheme.
Wartime evacuation: over 600 Portuguese and Timorese arrived in Australia after being evacuated from Portuguese Timor.
Repatriation: almost all wartime evacuees returned to Portuguese Timor after the war.
Portuguese withdrawal and civil war: Australia accepted about 2,500 evacuees in Darwin.
Special Humanitarian Program: thousands fled the Indonesian invasion and were resettled in Australia.
Special Assistance Category visas, often sponsored by family already in Australia.
Arrived on tourist visas and later applied for permanent residency to escape the occupation and reunite with family.
Safe haven: following the referendum and ensuing violence, over 4,000 Timorese were granted temporary protection in Australia.
Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme: thousands of Timorese citizens have come to Australia to fill critical labour gaps.