Why we built it
There are roughly 200,000 people of Polish descent in Australia and more than 150 Polish-Australian organisations across the country — Saturday schools, Catholic parishes, scout troops, dance ensembles, business councils, sporting clubs, welfare societies. Until Find Polonia launched, they were scattered across forty-something websites, dozens of Facebook groups, and an email chain you only got onto if someone in the parish knew your aunt.
We started with a small experiment in Softr — a hosted-database tool — to prove the directory model worked. Within weeks, organisations from every state were submitting listings. The traffic and the requests made it clear: the appetite was real, and the prototype wouldn't scale. We needed something proper.
Find Polonia is the rebuilt platform — a custom, bilingual web app designed for the way younger Polish-Australians actually search: Google first, English first, mobile first. Every listing is reviewed by volunteers, links back to the source organisation, and is free to add. The platform itself is open infrastructure for the diaspora — not a competing brand.
What's next: deeper editorial coverage through the /stories series, partnerships with the consulate and peak Polish bodies, and grant funding to keep the directory free as it grows. The goal is durability — a community resource that exists in twenty years, regardless of who happens to be running it on any given day.
Moments from the community
From Constitution Day in Sydney to Saturday school graduations in Perth — the everyday life of the Polish-Australian diaspora.
Placeholder photography — to be replaced with community-supplied images.
How we got here
- Mid 2025
The idea
PAYG board frustration with the fragmentation of Polish-Australian life online crystallises into a concrete proposal: build one bilingual directory for everything.
- Late 2025
Softr prototype
First version ships at findpolonia.org.au using a hosted no-code stack. Listings start arriving from organisations in every state within weeks.
- Early 2026
Custom rebuild begins
The prototype proves the demand. Work starts on a bespoke Next.js platform with proper bilingual routing, a Supabase backend hosted on AWS Sydney, and a community-led design system.
- April 2026
National launch
Find Polonia launches publicly with full coverage of all eight states and territories. Press, partner outreach, and Saturday school onboarding begin.
- 2026 onwards
Stories, partnerships, grants
Editorial coverage expands through the Stories series. Partnership conversations begin with consular services, peak Polish bodies, and cultural funders.
An independent project
Find Polonia is an independent, volunteer-built project for the Polish-Australian community. It exists to make community life — events, organisations, businesses, stories — findable in one place, in both English and Polish.
A fuller introduction from the founder is on the way. In the meantime: the platform is built and maintained by volunteers, costs nothing to use, and is designed to outlast any single contributor.
Information should be findable, sources should be traceable, and infrastructure should outlast the people who build it.
Polish Australian Youth Gathering
Find Polonia is a project of PAYG — a registered Australian not-for-profit empowering young Australians of Polish descent to celebrate their heritage and connect with their community. PAYG board members and volunteers across every state contribute listings, editorial work, partnerships, and review queues.
Visit PAYG →Working alongside
Find Polonia is supported by Polish-Australian organisations, consular representation, and community foundations across the country.
See all partners →