For many Australians with Dutch heritage, learning the language can be a meaningful way to connect with family roots and cultural traditions. Based in Canberra, Dutch language learners have the opportunity to join courses online at Access Art Academy, a mother-and-daughter team of Marion Verbruggen and Marianne Mettes. A Passion Read more
In 2022, Australian authors Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, who is also an illustrator, were chosen to write the Kinderboekenweekgeschenk for Children’s Book Week (Kinderboekenweek) in the Netherlands. Children’s Book Week Children’s Book Week, or Kinderboekenweek, is an annual event in the Netherlands that brings the magic of literature to Read more
nijntje, known in English as miffy, is a character created by Dutch children’s author and illustrator Dick Bruna (1927-2017). nijntje/miffy is a white rabbit with human characteristics who lives in the Netherlands. The first nijntje/miffy book – bearing the same name as its main character – was published in 1955. Read more
In 1987 Dutch Australian author Lolo Houbein published her book Wrong Face in the Mirror. Among other topics, this book deals with the author’s emigration to Australia in the 1950s as a twenty-four-year-old. Houbein describes the challenges of adapting to life in Australia as a Dutch migrant, including the struggle Read more
Sunbirds by Mirandi Riwoe (UQ Press, 2023) is a historical fiction novel set in the early 1940s in Java. The novel opens with protagonist Anna van Hoorn fleeing the Japanese Occupation of the Indies for the safety of Australia. Near the Australian coast, Anna’s plane is caught up in the Read more
Are you interested in your Dutch Australian family history? Did your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents migrate to Australia from the Netherlands? Or maybe you migrated to Australia from the Netherlands yourself and want to research your family history but don’t know where to start? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Read more
This article was created with the permission of, and with information made available by, Mr. Bijvoet’s grandchildren, Dr. Shanti Wong and Mr. Mark Wardle. Cornelis Bijvoet (1890–1964) was a Dutch shipping engineer who served his country with distinction as a ship designer, a World War II naval officer, and a Read more
Dingeman Adriaan Henry van der Sluijs, better known by his stage name Dick Diamonde, was a Dutch Australian bass player. Born in the Dutch town Hilversum, Diamonde emigrated to Australia with his parents when he was four years old. The family lived in the Villawood migrant hostel in western Sydney Read more
New Zealand-based author Rüdiger Mack is releasing a new book about Dutch navigator Abel Tasman (1603-1659). Titled First Encounters: The Early Pacific and European Narratives of Abel Tasman’s 1642 Voyage, Mack’s 348-page book takes a new look at the beginnings of contacts between the Dutch and Indigenous peoples in Australia, Read more
Johannes Jan Nicolaas de Voogd, known as Jan, was born in January 1932 in Japan to Dutch parents, Nicolaas Arie Johannes (Niek) de Voogd (1899-1977) and Amarintia Clasina de Vries (1903-1998). Jan’s parents married in 1930 in Kattendijke in Zeeland, the Netherlands. At the time his father Niek was an Read more