1950s-1970s, with chain expansion from the 1980s
Post-war Italian migration to Australia, then a chain-led mass market
Australia's pizza culture began with substantial post-war Italian and Greek migration into the catering trade, was then overtaken by American chains in the 1980s, and has since developed both a strong wood-fired artisan scene and a set of frankly local toppings that no other country shares.
From and to
Origin
- Country:
- Italy
- Region:
- Calabria, Sicily and the Veneto
Destination
- Country:
- Australia
- City:
- Melbourne and Sydney
- Community:
- Italian-Australian
New Zealand's pizza culture followed a broadly similar but later and more chain-dominated path, with a much smaller Italian migrant base.
Multiple overlapping routes
Several genuine routes contributed at once; presenting any one of them as the route would be misleading.
What changed on arrival
Reinvention beyond the origin tradition
Distinctly Australian toppings became mainstream rather than novelty: barbecue-sauce bases, the 'Aussie' egg-and-bacon pizza, prawn and seafood pizzas, and — most contentiously — tinned beetroot.
Generally acceptedMeal-occasion change
Pizza is closely tied to informal outdoor and sporting occasions and to Friday-night takeaway, sitting alongside the barbecue rather than replacing it.
Supported, with regional variation