Faith Matters
50 Years of Vietnamese Settlement
in Australia
This year marks half a century since the first Vietnamese families sought refuge and a new beginning on Australian shores. Over the past 50 years, Vietnamese Australians have enriched our nation with their hard-earned skills, renowned cuisine and vibrant cultural traditions.
To honour this milestone, the CRC St Albans Animators Club has transformed one of our student’s family stories—an inspiring journey from Vietnam to Australia—into a short, animated film. Below is the transcript of that powerful narrative.
My father fled Vietnam in 1981, stayed in the Malaysian refugee camp in 1982 and came to Canberra in 1983. He stayed in Canberra for 24 years until he and my mother decided to move to Melbourne once she became pregnant with my older sister.
In 1981, my father and his family fled Vietnam because back then, Vietnam was a communist country. His family wanted to flee for freedom, also because my grandfather was serving with the Australian army against the Vietnam communist.
If my father’s family had stayed any longer, they would’ve been thrown into jail, so this was a very hard time for everyone.
My grandmother, father, his 4 siblings and many cousins fled Vietnam by boat. It was a horrible experience and his family suffered from sea sickness. The boat was rocking constantly and it was extremely difficult for everyone, until they arrived in Malaysia.
They became refugees and stayed there for roughly a year.
My father’s cousins were sent to the USA while he, his mother and siblings were sent to Australia.
My father then settled in Canberra first then moved to Melbourne with the rest of my family, where we have been living ever since.