Australia Day in the US Highlights Australia’s Impact through Art and Science
From the dance hits of Kylie Minogue to software from companies like Atlassian, Australia’s influence spans industries, institutions, and cultural life. Australia Day events in New York show how the 100,000 Australians living in the US maintain their connections to home.
Uniquely Australian: The Films, Music, and Businesses that Say G’Day
While not often boastful about it (Australia appreciates a dose of understatement), Australia’s contributions to global culture are numerous, ranging from business to entertainment and beyond.
Figures such as Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman have long been established within American film and theatre, starring in countless films like Moulin Rouge! (2001) and the X-Men series, respectively. Slightly more niche, I’ve got one word to say to you: Kath & Kim. Sometimes referred to as the Seinfeld of Australia, the series is a cult favorite TV show among those who know, especially after being picked up by Netflix.
Rock and Pop Record Collection in Storefront. Image: Ar Kay via Pexels.
In music, Kylie Minogue’s club pop sound is a remains a chart-topping export of Australian taste, with her world tours regularly selling out. The rock band AC/DC, originally from Sydney, is known for its school uniform attire and ultra-catchy guitar riffs.
Have you ever used Jira or Confluence at work? Australian companies like Atlassian are deeply ingrained in tech companies. Haircare brand Aussie was created by an American traveling in Australia. Billabong is a wardrobe fixture in the surf community, born in Queensland.
In aviation, Qantas continues to connect the two countries through direct transpacific routes. These count as just a few of Australia’s contributions to a more connected and sensational world.
Australians in the United States: Population, Cities, and Presence
Becoming a unified nation in 1901, Australia formalized diplomatic relations with the United States in 1940, establishing its first diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C. in the same year.
Australia maintains its embassy in the capital as well as a collection of consulates in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Houston. In New York, Australia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations engages in international security, development, and global governance.
These days, more than 100,000 Australians reside across major cities in the United States, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Houston, working across finance, academia, technology, and the arts. That presence extends beyond population, shaping the systems, institutions, and everyday rhythms of American life.
Australia Day in New York: Diplomacy and Cultural Observance
Australia Day marks January 26, 1788, when Britain’s First Fleet arrived in modern-day Sydney and established the first colonial settlement. With so many cultural contributions, Australia Day would seem to be a national day of celebration. But for some, particularly those of First Nations communities, it is a date of mourning and reflection, sometimes referred to as Invasion Day. The dual nature of the day has informed how it is approached both within Australia and abroad.
New York Consul General Heather Ridout AO at the Australia Day event. Image: American Australian Association via Linkedin.
In New York, Australia Day was marked through an event presented by the American Australian Association, Consul-General Heather M. Ridout, Officer of the Order of Australia, and Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, His Excellency James Larsen. Together, they convened a formal evening program reflecting both national observance and the perspective of Australians abroad. Consul-General Ridout addressed the occasion with reference to First Nations history and the broader context of national identity, while Ambassador Larsen positioned Australia within a system of alliances and multilateral engagement, linking the observance of Australia Day to international cooperation.
The program included the presentation of the Australia Day Ambassador Award to Dr. Monkol Lek, whose work at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard contributed to a global database of human genetic variation accessed more than 12 million times.
The Australian Embassy in Washington, DC. Image: via Clark Construction.
The evening concluded with a performance by American Australian Association Scholar Michael Grebla, whose composition Unbreakable, was originally written for the 2023 opening of the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC. The building, designed by Melbourne-based Bates Smart and built by the American-based Clark Construction, reflects the continuity and generational ambition of the U.S.–Australia relationship.
Celebrating its 92nd anniversary, Casita Maria honored Hunt Slonem, Sonia Gutt de Haime, and Ben Rodriguez-Cubeñas with a bash at The Plaza in New York City. We documented the fiesta with our all-new Holo Digital Camera from Manual.