The Sunday morning SBS Italian language programme “Una Vita, una Storia” presents the life stories of Italians who have come to Australia between the end of the 1940s and the 1980s-1990s and have made a difference to their community, in some cases to Australian society at large.
They bear witness to the personal experiences of many first generation migrants and demonstrate the rich and varied contribution brought to this country by people whom Australians, at least in the early years of mass Italian immigration, did not look upon too kindly.
For three years now we have been able to listen every Sunday morning to educators, doctors, lawyers, business people and others from many walks of life who present perspectives, in some case very different, of their home country, travel to and settlement in Australia, their achievements reached in the new country and the ever changing relationship with their country of origin.
The statistical data regarding the Italian presence in Australia is well known but the details behind the statistics rather less so. These accounts add a more personal dimension to the raw data.
For those now interested, or those who may be interested in the future, in the history of Italians in Australia these life stories are a precious contribution to the historical and social development of the Italian-Australian community that began to form in the years after the Second World War.
Taken in their entirety they put into focus the most significant stages: from recognition of cultural and ethnic identity to workplace conditions, from the creation of community institutions and associations to participation in political life, from literary production to the maintenance of the Italian language.
Especially today, when there is a slight but steady increase in permanent Italian migration to Australia, the stories of those Italo-Australians who have already been living here for many years, demonstrate the existence of an Italian-Australian history, which needs to be told.
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