The Hompot family fled Yugoslavia in 1967 when John was 10.

"I used to hear stories of the authorities coming into people's homes in the middle of the night and taking people and you'd never hear from them again. It was quite oppressive," he says.

John's father had already tried to flee the country twice as a young man, but each time he was captured and imprisoned.

After marriage and five children, his father decided it was worth the risk to attempt an another escape.

The family, with children all below the age of 10, fled to Italy where they waited 12months to get a passage to Australia.

"When I arrived in Australia I spoke Hungarian, Serbian and Italian, but not English. It was a huge change," John says. "I had to get used to seeing cars going up and down the street because I'd only ever seen cows on the road."

John says that while he was picked on at school for being different, he was surprised by the amount of people who went out of their way to help his family.

In his view it was those people who exemplified the true Australian spirit.

John recalls the family's first Christmas in Australia.

"The only food we had in the house was bread and sugar. Mum used to dampen the bread and sprinkle it with the sugar as a sweet treat. But I remember someone coming to the house and when she realised we didn't have anything to eat she came back with two roast chickens."

It was always during these times of need that someone would walk into their lives and made them realise how lucky they were to live in the country.

Last year, John, an aspiring musician wrote a song G'Day Mate You're Welcome, in recognition of what Australia has given him.

"I wanted to focus on the things that I feel grateful for and move away from the bad things that were happening in my life," he says.

"None of that even compares to what my life would have been like there [in Yugoslavia].

"I can't really say what would have happened had we stayed but here I have had a fantastic career; over there, chances are I would have been doing hard labour."

To those people becoming new citizens, John urges them to get involved in community events outside of their ethnic groups.

"When you first come to a country you feel like you don't fit in, but you really do. You feel like this because you stick together with your [ethnic] group. You need to get out there and become involved in other areas of the community."

For John, Australia Day is another day he gives thanks for living in the lucky country.