By Lleyton Hughes and Mark Whalan

More than 20 local residents became true-blue Aussies when the National Citizenship Day was celebrated at the Kiama Pavilion last week.

Kiama Mayor Cameron McDonald and Deputy Mayor Melissa Matters warmly welcomed the new citizens in a heartfelt ceremony.

The group included people from England, New Zealand, and various countries across Asia and Europe, ranging in age from their teens to their 70s.

Among them was Mridul Anand Vij - known to many in Kiama as Ridz - one of the proprietors of By the Sea, a local favourite known for its high-quality Indian regional cuisine nights.

“It’s a great honour to be welcomed into the Australian family,” she said. 

Ridz with husband Deep and daughter Gracie. Photo: Mark Whalan

“The Kiama community has already embraced myself, my husband Deep, and our Aussie-born daughter Gracie.

"We look forward to playing a greater role in Kiama and in the country we have grown to love.”

National Citizenship Day was first marked in 2001. The date, 17 September, was chosen to align with the renaming of the Australian Citizenship Act in 1973.

Between 2024 and 2025, there were 165,193 people who became Australian citizens - the majority from British Commonwealth countries, including New Zealand (33,103), India (23,015), the UK (12,674), and South Africa (4428).

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia’s population stood at 27,536,874 in March 2025, with a net overseas migration of 315,900.

Historically, Kiama is considered one of the best examples of "chain migration" in Australia, with significant numbers of North Irish Protestants settling in the region in the 19th century.

Today, 3363 people living in the Kiama LGA were born overseas, according to REMPLAN data - with the highest number arriving between 1960 and 1975.