Behind ‘New Humans Of Australia’, The HONY-Style Blog Sharing Refugees’ Stories

Y’all are probably across the absolute phenomenon that is Humans Of New York by now: one man (Brandon Stanton) and his camera, telling the intimate stories of strangers in NYC.

It’s spawned a plethora of spinoffs, with varying degrees of success. But now, we have our very own to get behind: New Humans Of Australia adopts the recognisable HONY style to tell the stories of ‘new’ Australians – particularly refugees – and celebrate our multicultural society.


NHOA has struck a chord. It’s exploded since it’s launch just over two weeks ago, attracting thousands of likes per day (at the time of writing, it’s sitting at 20,194).

The woman behind the page, Sydney woman Nicola Gray, is aiming to reframe people’s perceptions of newly arrived Australians.

“I believe that giving a face, a story and a name to people who are often maligned in the media is a beautiful way to change people’s perceptions,” she told P.TV. “Of course, I was inspired by Brandon Stanton.”

She’s also included each person’s country of origin, and years they’ve lived in Australia with each post.

We went ahead and screenshotted a comment on that last post because those heartstrings, man – it tugs ’em.

New Humans of Australia is part of a national conversation about what kind of country we are, or should be: exclusive, or inclusive?

Thousands of people gathered at #LightTheDark vigils round Australia just weeks ago, and since then, our government has agreed to accept an additional 12,000 Syrian refugees. The “overwhelmingly positive” response to NHOA is a good indication that Australia is moving towards the latter.

“The comments are very welcoming and supportive,” Gray says.

“It’s great to see the true Australian spirit shining through.”