It is not known precisely when Buddhism first came to Australia. It has argued that there may have been contact between the Aboriginal people of northern Australia and the early Hindu-Buddhist civilisations of Indonesia. It is also possible that the great fleets of the Chinese Ming emperors, which explored the south between 1405 and 1433, may have reached the mainland of Australia.
The first certain contact with Buddhism can be dated to 1848, when Chinese labourers arrived to work on the goldfields of eastern Australia. The beliefs of these men were predominantly Taoist/Confucian, but the makeshift temples they built have been found to contain remnants of Mahayana Buddhist statues. Most of these men returned to China when the gold rush ended, but some stayed in Australia, often after sending for a wife from China. While the older Chinese continued to practice their ancestral beliefs, their children and grandchildren often adopted the Christian faith.
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