The Papua New Guineans of Australia

The Papua New Guineans of Australia, numbering approximately 24,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a diverse Papua New Guinean diaspora shaped by longstanding movement between neighboring PNG and Australia, with early migration tied to Queensland labor and later settlement increasing after the 1960s. 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: 24,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG008015

Pray for the Papua New Guineans 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.

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

Bible Resources in Tok Pisin:

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

1 entry

Or check out the Tok Pisin bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Papua New Guineans 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 Papua New Guineans:
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 Papua New Guineans of Australia

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
readPsalm 20:7

Pray for those who trust in anything other than the Lord to be convicted of their sin and learn about what Jesus did for them so that they can choose to trust in Him.

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
readMatthew 16:16

Pray that many will see clearly that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and put their trust in Him.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
readPsalm 27:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will strengthen them when they face persecution of any kind for Jesus' name’s sake.

The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way.
readPsalm 37:23

Pray that believers from near and far will serve here and trust in the Lord's timing as He establishes their steps.

Papua New Guinean Across Countries (ROP3 - 107203) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MelanesiansMelanesiansUnited States1,600No Longer UnreachedTok PisinProtestantism
Neo-Melanesian PapuansNeo-Melanesian PapuansSolomon Islands7,900No Longer UnreachedTok PisinProtestantism
Neo-Melanesian PapuansNeo-Melanesian PapuansPapua New Guinea233,000No Longer UnreachedTok PisinProtestantism
Papua New GuineansPapua New GuineansAustralia24,000No 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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