Sometime, probably around October this year, a person will step off aircraft somewhere in Australia in the last stage of their journey way from conflict or persecution.
This person will be the one millionth refugee settled in Australia since the end of World War II.
The Department of Home Affairs says Australia has successfully settled more than 985,000 refugees and humanitarian entrants since the country's first humanitarian intake occurred in 1947.
With 20,000 refugee places currently allocated for each financial year, the million milestone is due to be reached in the early months of the 2025-26 financial year.
Based on these figures, it is expected the one-millionth arrival to occur sometime between September and November 2025.
The milestone represents a million individual journeys toward refuge and a million stories of people rebuilding their lives in safety with hope for the future.
Since the 1930s, Australia has welcomed refugees fleeing global conflicts — from Jewish refugees before and after World War Two, to Southeast Asians after the Vietnam War.
Following World War Two, Australia entered formal agreements with international bodies to accept displaced people from Europe.
In November 1947, more than 800 people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania arrived in Fremantle. They were the first of 170,000 displaced persons resettled in Australia after World War Two.
Later decades saw more structured resettlement, particularly in response to major global conflicts.
Over the past 40 years, Australia has continued to resettle people from conflict-riven regions, including the Southeast Asia the Middle East, Africa and Myanmar.
Today, refugees from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Iraq, Syria, Myanmar and countries in the Horn of Africa continue to arrive under the humanitarian program.
In two recent emergency situations, Australia evacuated 4100 refugees from Afghanistan following the return of the Taliban to power in 2021 and around 4,000 Ukrainians, mostly women and children, who initially arrived on tourist visas after the Russian invasion are new transitioning to permanent protection visas.
CEO of AMES Australia Cath Scarth said the million-refugee mark was a reflection of Australia's proud history of affording refugee to people fleeing war, conflict or persecution.
“Australia has a generous and sophisticated refugee settlement program that not only offers refuge to people fleeing war or persecution but also equips them to build successful lives and become contributors,” Ms Scarth said.
“We are an example to the world at a time when more than 122 million people are displaced due to war, conflict or persecution,” she said.
Australia is a leading refugee resettlement country, ranking among the top few resettlement countries on a per capita basis.
The United States has historically accepted the greatest number of refugees, but its program has recently been effectively shuttered by the Trump administration, meaning the loss of 100,000 annual resettlement places.
Among refugees who have come to Australia in recent years are:
Iraqi doctor Asseel Yako who, in his homeland, tended to battlefield wounds suffered by soldiers or militia members fighting ISIS or patching up women children horrifically injured in explosions of gunfire.
Ten years later he is still saving lives working a consultant physician, specialising in internal medicine at Warragul Hospital, in Gippsland, Victoria.
The job is the culmination of years of hard work, striving to get his qualifications recognised in Australia.
He had studied and worked as a doctor for almost twenty years before arriving in Australia, but he was forced to jump through extraordinary hoops to be able practice medicine again.
Cambodian refugee Chan Uoy has helped breathe new life into the struggling regional town of Dimboola, in Victoria's west.
Chan has opened the Dimboola Imaginarium, an eclectic and exotic gift shop and Air BnB recently featured in the high-end magazine Conde Nast Traveller. Chan has also recently become the deputy mayor of the local Hindmarsh Shire.
The Dimboola Imaginarium is a stimulating space with a cornucopia of exotic wares, including an almost life-size giraffe, oversize world globes, and colourfully painted rocking horses. The five Air BB bedrooms have differing but exotic and indulgent décor.
He has also launched the Wimmera Steampunk Festival, which this year is expected to attract 5000 visitors to the town.
Young soccer star Yaya Dukuly is the embodiment of refugee aspiration and success.
The 22-year-old Adelaide United soccer star was born into a refugee family in Guinea. His father is a Liberian and his mother is from Guinea.
Yaya arrived in Australia with his family as a child and grew up in Adelaide. Now a professional footballer and Australian under-23 representative, he is also an emerging community leader and role model.
Yaya brought is powerful and authentic new voice in the multicultural sector, supporting newly arrived refugees and advocating for their communities.