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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Neo-Melanesian Papuans of Australia

The Neo-Melanesian Papuans of Australia, numbering approximately 31,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea They are an Diaspora people, with Neo-Melanesian Papuan as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the New Guinea people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Tok Pisin is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Neo-Melanesian Papuan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Australia
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Tok Pisin (tpi)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 31,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG008015

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Pray for the Neo-Melanesian Papuans of Australia

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

32%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tok Pisin
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Tok Pisin Speakers

Media Resources in Tok Pisin:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tok Pisin:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1989 Bible Society of Papua New Guinea✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tok Pisin bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Neo-Melanesian Papuans are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Neo-Melanesian Papuans:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Neo-Melanesian Papuans of Australia

For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
readPsalm 130:7b

Pray for those who are unaware of God's steadfast love that is offered to them through Jesus Christ to learn the truth and experience His plentiful redemption.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
readPsalm 96:7

Pray that entire households will come to faith in Jesus and that God will bless their families with faith in Him for generations to come.

For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.
readPsalm 149:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged and feel immeasurably loved as they meditate on the fact that God takes pleasure in them.

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
readJohn 1:35-36

Pray for those God sends to cross cultures to share the gospel, that they might faithfully share the good news of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Neo-Melanesian Papuan Across Countries (ROP3 - 107203) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Neo-Melanesian PapuansPG010297Neo-Melanesian PapuansPapua New Guinea232,000No Longer UnreachedTok PisinProtestantism
Neo-Melanesian PapuansPG008015Neo-Melanesian PapuansAustralia31,500No Longer UnreachedTok PisinProtestantism
Neo-Melanesian PapuansPG010784Neo-Melanesian PapuansSolomon Islands7,900No Longer UnreachedTok PisinProtestantism
MelanesiansPG046504MelanesiansUnited States1,600No Longer UnreachedTok PisinProtestantism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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