This guide was developed for people who are interested in the social history of Chinese people in the Northern Territory. Resources available in the library include books, journal articles, videos and access to relevant websites.
Chinese workers were first introduced into Australia during the early 1850 ’s to cover labour shortages after the transportation of convicts ceased. The discovery of gold in the late 1850 ’s sparked a series of rushes that greatly increased the number of Chinese arrivals, and following a public outcry, legislation passed in the various colonies to limit Chinese immigration. In 1863, Letters Patent placed what is now known as the
Northern Territory under the control of the South Australian Government. Unable to attract Europeans settlers to the region, Chinese labour became the preferred option as a means of providing cheap labour for the tropical climate. The first Chinese arrived at Port Darwin from Singapore in 1874 to work on the goldfields, and on the Telegraph line. Later arrivals were mostly from the Guangdong province and from Hong Kong.
During this time, a significant number of Chinese tradesmen and merchants also arrived and set up in business at Palmerston, and on the goldfields. The Chinese were very proficient market gardeners and were soon providing the Northern Territory with fresh vegetables.
By 1886, the Chinese population in the Northern Territory reached 6,421 and was three times that of the
European population. Under pressure from the other colonies, South Australia agreed to extend the operation of the Chinese Restriction Act to the Northern Territory in 1888. An Act to further restrict Chinese immigration was passed by the Commonwealth in 1901, and a 1911 ministerial direction removed Chinese people from their positions as wharf-labourers and as cooks on the overland telegraph line. Further restrictions excluded them from government employment. As a direct result of this policy, the Chinese population in the Northern
Territory fell to 659 people by 1939. Most of the remaining Chinese people were evacuated to southern states in 1941, following Japan’s entry into the Second World War.
A small number of Chinese people returned to Darwin after 1946 and worked hard to re-establish their businesses. Many of the corrugated iron buildings in Darwin had been stripped by the Army for building material and Chinatown had been flattened. Some Chinese families rebuilt in the outlying suburbs alongside
European families and a new multicultural community gradually emerged during the 1950 ’s. The custom of single men seeking brides in Hong Kong continued, but these were no longer as arranged marriages and over time, marriages between Chinese and European families became more commonplace.
During the 1960 ’s Chinese people became more active in public life and were also more highly represented in the public service. Harry Chan was elected as a member of the Legislative Council of the Northern Territory in
1962 and became the first Chinese mayor in Australia in 1966. Alec Fong Lim became the first elected mayor of an Australian capital city in 1984. Today, the Chinese community in Darwin maintain a high profile in business and contribute greatly to the cultural diversity that is a celebrated part of Darwin life. Chinese social clubs and cultural groups include: the Chung Wah Society; the Hakka Association; the Chinese Language and
Culture Centre; the Cantonese Opera Association, the Australia-China Friendship Association; the Chinese
East Timorese Association; and the Hong Kong Club .
Department of
Arts & Museums

Chan, Frances.
Cathay of the north: Darwin Chinese of the late
20th century. Pialba, Qld: Langford Publications, c
1992.
NTC 305.8951094295 CHAN
Giese, Diana.
Beyond Chinatown: changing perspectives on the Top End
Chinese experience. National
Library of Australia, Canberra: 1995. www.nla.gov.au/sites/default/files/ beyondchinatown.pdf
NTC 305.8951 GIE
Giese, Diana.
Astronauts, lost souls & dragons: voices of today’s
Chinese Australians in conversation with Diana Giese.
St. Lucia, Qld: University of
Queensland Press, 1997.
NTC 305.8951 GIE
Giese Diana.
Courage and service: Chinese
Australians and World War II.
Marrickville, N.S.W. : Courage and
Service Project, 1999.
NTC 940.54 GIES
Jones, Timothy G.
Ping Que : mining magnate of the Northern
Territory 1835 to 1886.
Darwin: Historical Society of the Northern Territory, 2002.
NTC B305.8951 (PING) JONE
Jones, Timothy G.
The Chinese in the Northern
Territory. Darwin: Northern
Territory University Press, 1990.
305.895109429 JONE
Loh, Morag.
Dinky-di: the contributions of Chinese immigrants and Australians of Chinese descent to Australia's defence forces and war efforts
1899-1988. Morag Loh; edited by Judith Winternitz.
Canberra Australian Govt. Pub. Service, 1989.
NTC 305.8951 LOH
McCarthy, Justin .
Would-be diggers and old travellers': the
Chinese at the Union Reefs and the Twelve Mile in the Northern Territory, 1876 – 1910. Adelaide:
National Trust of Australia (N.T.), 1989.
NTC 305.8951 MACC
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.
Sweet & Sour: experiences of Chinese families
in the Northern Territory. Darwin: Museum and Art
Gallery of the Northern Territory, 1997.
NTC 305.8951 SWEE
Smith, Robyn.
Hakka: the diaspora leading to the
Northern Territory.
Winnellie, NT:
Hakka Association of the Northern
Territory, 2012.
NTC 305.8951 SMIT
Yee, Glenice.
Through Chinese eyes: the
Chinese experience in the
Northern Territory 1874-2004.
Parap, N.T. : Glenice Yee, 2006.
NTC 305.8951 YEE
Hannan, Agnes F.
All out! : the effects of evacuation and land
acquisition on the Darwin Chinese, 1941-1954.
Thesis (B.A.) Monash University, 1985.
NTC 305.8951 HAN
Hutchings, Suzi J.
The Darwin Chinese 1874-1983: transformations
in ethnic identity and its situation. BA Hons
Thesis. Department of Anthropology. University of
Adelaide,1983.
NTC 305.8951 HUTC Inglis, Christina Brenda.
The Darwin Chinese: A Study of Assimilation.
Master of Arts Thesis, ANU, 1967.
NTC 305.45195 ING
Rendell, Margaret Patricia.
The Chinese in South Australia and the Northern
Territory in the nineteenth century: a study of the social, economic and legislative attitudes adopted towards the Chinese in the colony.
Master of Arts Thesis: University of Adelaide, 1952.
NTC 305.8951 REND

Giese Diana.
All the flavour of the time returns: using oral history to explore the Top End’s Chinese heritage. Occasional Papers, no. 45. Darwin: State
Reference Library of the Northern Territory, 1994.
NTC 305.8951094295 GIE
Lim, Alec Fong.
Memories of pre-War Northern Territory towns.
Occasional Papers, no. 19. Darwin: State Reference
Library of the Northern Territory, 1990.
NTC B994.295 LIM
Rolls, Eric C.
‘The erratic communication between Australia and China
.’
Darwin: Northern Territory Library
Service, c 1990. Occasional papers (Northern
Territory Library Service); no. 14.
NTC 305.8951094 ROLL
See-Kee, Charles.
Chinese contribution to early Darwin.
Occasional papers, no. 3. Darwin: Northern Territory Library
Service, 1987.
NTC 305.8951 SEEK
Giese Diana.
“Editing Lives” Voices, vol 6, Issue 1, 1996 .
National Library of Australia.
Giese Diana.
“The ancestral village: The Top End Chinese, ourselves and others” Voices, vol 1, Issue 3, 1991 .
National Library of Australia.
Stone, Shane and Steele, Roger.
‘Progress of the Chinese community of the Northern
Territory’, in Northern Perspective.
Vol. 18, no. 1,
1995, p.28-37.
NTC PER 919.429 NORT
Newsletter : Chung Wah Society. Darwin NT:
Chung Wah Society, 1979-.
NTC PER 305.8951 NEWS territorystories.nt.gov.au/handle/10070/223245
Northern Territory Newsletter: Australia-China
Friendship Society . Darwin: The Society, 1987-
1998.
NTC PER 305.8951 NORT
Lee Long, W.J.
Kwong Sue Duck: A man of family
[videorecording (DVD)] Melbourne: KSD
Foundation, 1995.
NTC MEDIA 305.8951 LONG
Lily Ah Toy [videorecording (DVD)]. Acton, ACT:
National Film and Sound Archive Australia, 2012.
NTC MEDIA 305.8951 LILY
Giese, Diana (Interviewer).
Post-War Chinese Australians Oral History
Project for the National Library of Australia.
Canberra ACT: National Library of Australia.
Chinese Australian Oral History Partnership, 1992.
Lee Long, Denise.
Transcript of interview with Denise Lee Long.
Canberra : National Library of Australia, Oral History
Section, 1997.
NTC 305.8951 GIES
Leong See, Roma.
Transcript of interview with Roma Leong: interviewer, Diana Giese. Canberra: National Library of Australia, Oral History Section, 1997.
NTC 305.8951 GIES
Lo, Shui Kwong.
From my Darwin diary [Notebook]. Darwin :
Northern Territory Archives Service. Oral History
Unit,1989.
NTC 305.8951 LO
“The Chinese Question in the Northern Territory”, in
South Australia. Office of the Government Resident
(Northern Territory). Government Resident's report on Northern Territory.
Govt. Printer, Adelaide, 1887:
p.13-14.
NTC PER 351.9429 NORT
Dewar, Michelle. Chinese database: Darwin
hinterland. Darwin: Museum and Art Gallery of the
Northern Territory, 1996.
NTC 994.295 DEWA

has many photographs of Chinatown and of people from the Chinese Community.
Chinatown Cavanagh Street - PH0570/0228 hdl.handle.net/10070/242797
Chinese Dragon – PH0386/0195 hdl.handle.net/10070/56041 www.
ntl.nt.gov.au
Contact Details
Phone: 1800 019 155
or (08) 8999 7177
Email: ntl.info@nt.gov.au
Fax: (08) 8999 6927
Post: GPO Box 42, Darwin, N.T. 0801
Location: Parliament House, Darwin
Fax: (08) 8999 6927
Post: GPO Box 42, Darwin, N.T. 0801
Location: Parliament House, Darwin