Where Are You Really From?

Michael starts his journey in Brisbane, home to one of the largest Vietnamese communities in the country, some surviving the trauma of the Vietnam war to thrive in the city’s south western suburbs. Their exodus from Vietnam may have coined the term ‘boat people’, but more than 40 years later, they’ve reclaimed it as a reminder of their strength, resilience, and gratitude to a country that took them in when they had nowhere else to go.

Michael visits the 100-year-old Greek community in Darwin - a group wiped out by economic ruin and devastating natural disasters in their hometowns. He looks at how they rebuilt and became stronger in a new city that soon formed a part of their identity.

In Wollongong, New South Wales, Michael unearths the Serbian history of a steel city. Generations of migrants from the former Yugoslavia have made a home in this picturesque seaside destination. From steel working priests to Balkans war survivors, this is a community constantly striving to balance its complicated cultural history with their Australian future.

Michael's journey ends in Shepparton, a city with four mosques, thirty different nationalities, and an Islamic history that stretches back over a century. He chats to Dinny Adem, the son of an Albanian Muslim migrant who went on to become Mayor of Shepparton.