Was it true that the first European colonists in Australia were British prisoners?

Europe at that time was really overpopulated. However, despite repeated explorations of Australia by the British, Dutch and Portuguese, it remained uncolonized for a long time. Only at the end of the 18th century, the British began to create the first colonies there with the help of prisoners. Due to the constant seizure of land by large landowners, the drive of the peasants from their lands, the impoverishment of the population and the tightening of laws, the prisons were overcrowded and it was necessary to put the prisoners somewhere.