Australia Migration By abisha 1901 30 000 people in australia were chinese and 495 000 people in australia were born in the uk 1921 increased migration after ww1 1947 postwar boom in migration from european countries begin 1947 immigration stalls due to ww2 1961 more people in australia were born in continental europe than the uk 1966 an increasing number of australian residents are from asian countries after changes to the white australian policy 2016 more people were born in asia than europe 2021 immigration drops sharply during the covid pandemic