Global True Lithuania Encyclopedia of Lithuanian heritage worldwide

Brisbane, Queensland

This is a provisional version of the article. It is being rewritten after the 2025-2026 field trip researching Australia's Lithuanian heritage. Please come back after some time to see the final version and post any suggestions in the comment section.

Brisbane (the capital city of Queensland, Australia, pop. 2 million) has a Lithuanian House, one of just a few Lithuanian-Australian cemetery zones, a Lithuanian commemorative plaque, and several sites named after Lithuanians.

Brisbane Lithuanian House

A small Lithuanian House (49 Gladstone Rd, Highgate Hill) is a vernacular "Queenslander" architecture building.

Brisbane Lithuanian House

While there are a few Lithuanian signs on the exterior (a sign says "Lithuanian community"), the interior has more Lithuanian memorabilia. The hall, which includes a kitchen, bar and other rooms, is used for community activities - such as meetings, national commemorations, language school, regular lunches, folk dancing - as well as hiring to non-Lithuanian users. It also contains a caretaker’s apartment on the lower floor, which is rented.

Brisbane Lithuanian House

The Lithuanian House is named after Father Dr Petras Bačinskas, as it was established by him almost singlehandedly.

When Father (Catholic priest) Bačinskas arrived in Brisbane in 1968, the small Lithuanian community of about 300, by comparison with Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, had not developed to the same extent, particularly as regards ownership of a Lithuanian House. This community did not have as many well-educated members for leadership and had to rely on expensive facility hire for community gatherings.

Father Bačinskas artwork inside the Brisbane Lithuanian House

Father Bacinckas had served as rector of the iconic Lithuanian February 16 Gymnasium in Germany. In Brisbane he was appointed chaplain to the Lithuanian community as well as to a Catholic Church run children’s home. He held Mass every week and was active in a variety of Lithuanian community activities. The community’s greatest need was to have a home of its own, so with his own money he purchased a large lot near the sea where they could meet and camp. The community said what they really needed was a hall closer to the city centre, so he sold the land and bought another site with view to building a hall on it. Next an opportunity arose for him to buy a small house, very close to the city centre. The community converted the house into a hall and it became the first Brisbane Lithuanian House. A few years later Pauls Ice Cream offered to buy the House for expansion of its neighbouring factory, so in 1984 Bacinskas traded it for a much larger one in a better location at no cost. Before he died in1993 he bequeathed it to the Lithuanian Community.

Lithuanian House of Brisbane

While every location was Bačinskas's personal property, they were meant to serve the Lithuanian community, and the activities and renovations were supported by Lithuanian volunteers. When Bačinskas died in 1993, he bequeathed the Lithuanian House to Lithuanian Community that was registered as an organisation named after him - Father Bacinskas Lithuanian Cultural Association.

Main hall of the Brisbane Lithuanian House

By about 2020, the management of the Lithuanian Community and Lithuanian House has passed to the more recent Lithuanian immigrants, attracted by the Australian economy and warm climate of Queensland. Most are professionals with the management skills to attract generous government grants for renovations.

Bar at Brisbane Lithuanian House

Lithuanian commemorative plaque in St. Mary's Church

While Lithuanian-Australians were generally not allowed to build or acquire their own churches, they had a Lithuanian mass on Sundays in one of each major city's regular churches.

In the case of Brisbane, St. Mary's Church was used by Father Bačinskas for weekly Mass and other Lithuanian religious celebration. In addition, missions occurred by Lithuanian priests from other Australian cities and overseas thus connecting the Lithuanian displaced persons of similar life stories (fleeing Lithuania due to the 1944 Soviet occupation) but very different places of final emigration.

Interior of the St. Mary's Church (the plaque is on the right)

To commemorate these missions, a Lithuanian language plaque was installed in this church with an inscription "Kančios keliu prisikėliman" ("Through torment to resurrection") which resonated both with the life of Jesus Christ and the fate of the Lithuanian refugees, further explained by "Marija gelbėk mus! Lietuvio tremties kelyje didžiam dvasios atgimimui, misijoms prisiminti. Joms vadovavo tėvas Jonas Borevičius S.K. 1965 m. vasario mėn. 28 dieną". Translation: "Mary, save us! To commemorate the rebirth of spirit in the Lithuanian path of exile, as well as the missions, led by Father Jonas Borevičius S. J., 1965 02 28". Jonas Borevičius was a Lithuanian-American priest who served in Chicago.

Plaque inside the St. Mary's Church

Currently, there is no weekly Lithuanian mass, and the masses in St. Mary's church are English.

Lithuanian cemetery zone of Brisbane

Brisbane is one of just a few Australian cities to have its own Lithuanian zone. It is located in Nudgee Cemetery and consists of two long rows of gravesites, many of them decorated in Lithuanian symbols or phrases like "Ilsėkis ramybėje svetimoje žemėje" ("Rest in peace in a foreign land") that exemplify the feelings of many Lithuanian DP refugees toward Australia as a foreign place they longed to return from even after living decades there.

Lithuanian rows of the Nudgee Cemetery

For many within that generation, it was symbolically important to at least be buried among other Lithuanians: with the Soviet occupation not permitting them to have a final resting place in beloved Lithuania, at least they would have a Lithuanian piece of cemetery abroad.

However, in many places in Australia, it was difficult to establish official Lithuanian cemetery zones, leading to informal "clusters" of Lithuanian graves where Lithuanians would aim to reserve gravesites close to other Lithuanians (but with non-Lithuanian graves in between).

Father Petras Bačinskas grave

In Brisbane, though, under the initiative of Father Bačinskas, they managed to acquire two rows of graves as an official Lithuanian zone, marked with letters "LITH" on some gravestones. Petras Bačinskas himself is also buried there. The Lithuanian rows are located between the early-20th-century massive gravestones on one side and smaller late-20th-century gravestones on the other.

A gravestone marked LITH in the Lithuanian zone

The first gravestone has 1965 listed as the date of death, but the regular burials started in 1972, with the first graves placed by chronological order.

Places named after Lithuanians and created by Lithuanians in Brisbane

Redbank Plains has Navickas Circuit, likely named after a person of Lithuanian descent, Kerry Navickas.

Navickas Circuit

An artwork designed by her and the local multi-ethnic youth (1998) is displayed near Goodna Marketplace in a nearby suburb.

The house at 76 Deagon St in Sandgate suburb has a fence styled after the Lithuanian columns of Gediminas symbol (the house was previously owned by a Lithuanian Stankūnas family).

Lithuanian fence

While Gedas Street in Calamvale suburb is believed by local Lithuanians to be named after a Lithuanian named Gediminas (with Gedas being a shortened version of Gediminas name), so far, we have no proof. Post in the comments if you know more about this street. Not far from Gedas Street, in the suburb of Carseldine, is Nemira Street, another Lithuanian name. In Brisbane, street names are usually nominated by the developers or builders of the neighbourhood, but the history is difficult to track.

Jonas Žilinskas monument near Corrindi Beach

354 km south of Brisbane near Corrindi Beach, deep in the forest, there is a monument to a Lithuanian-Australian circus artist, Jonas Žilinskas.

As described in the plaque next to the monument, his unique life went far beyond the circus. He worked as a woodman in these forests for 12 years before returning to the circus (longer than the usual 2-year mandatory contract for new immigrants). While working here, he became famous as an eccentric who is claimed to have invented the swingsaw, working naked, or using his circus skills in forestry. After his stint as a woodman, he performed in the circus until old age. He is claimed to have been born in 1919 in the largest Lithuanian family of the time, as he had 22 brothers and sisters.

Jonas Žilinskas Monument

The statue for him was built in 1957, and he himself witnessed and participated in its construction. It was refurbished in 2007. The plaque near the statue shows pictures from Jonas life and uses various names he was known by in Australia - including "Jonaas", "Johnno" and "Slovenski", the latter an Australian mispronunciation of his surname inspired by his accent. The statue is also nicknamed "Keyman" as it is covered in keys.

Close-up of the monument

The statue depicts Jonas standing on top of a globe-like pedestal. It is surrounded by dense forest and may be inaccessible to 2WD cars after rain, as the roads towards it get progressively more difficult to traverse (with moderate rain, though, it is possible to drive to the last intersection less than 1 km from the statue and walk from there).

A submerged road near the monument

Unlike many DPs who died in Australia (not moving to their homeland even after 1990 Lithuanian independence), Jonas Žilinskas had actually kept his promise to return to free Lithuania. He returned in 2006 and passed away in 2013.

Note: Jonas Žilinskas statue is located in New South Wales, but it is closer to Brisbane than Sydney, thus we describe it in this article rather than Sydney article.