A new book gives a full account of Tasmanian Indigenous woman Truganini’s life. In this extract, she is taken to Melbourne and caught up in the murders behind Victoria’s first public execution.
Articles on Australian history
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An archaeologist tells the story of how she and her colleagues discovered a traditional Irish village, a clachan, in a South Australian field – the first confirmed clachan found outside Ireland.
Signatures developed to replace rituals as a form of legal validation. Indigenous people have seen their marks used against them and rallied communities to use signatures in innovative protests.
Thanks to savvy public relations, General Motors inserted itself at the heart of culture in mid-century Australia. But dreams don’t last forever.
Courts have had to consider whether an eggshell, a tractor fender, a petticoat hem, graffiti on a wall, and a poem might be valid wills. They’ve shown surprising flexibility in judgment.
In the early 1900s, fortune-telling provided entertainment, social connection and a job for some Australians. Its legal status made criminals of women, yet allowed others entry to the police force.
From Clint Eastwood to Bert Newton – here’s what Melbourne could watch on that new technology, the television set, to see in the new decade.
Australia’s hospitals have come a long way from the huts of convict times to the well thought-out spaces we see today.
The ‘New Bradfield’ scheme seeks to revive a nation-building ethos supposedly stifled by bureaucratic inertia. But there are good reasons the scheme never became a reality.
Born in 1831, at a time when animals were widely regarded as property, Frances Levvy used the power of the press and the passion of children to advocate for their welfare.
A newly-discovered petition from 1850 provides rare evidence of what might be women’s first moment of political activism in Australia.
Away from the state capitals, small museums are out of step with big city curators - presenting tourists with stories that give a blinkered view of local history.
The ABC documentary, How Australia Got Its Mojo, purported to tell the story of advertising agency Mojo. But the real story is more complex.
The mythical Australian bloke is white, straight, and able-bodied – he’s Crocodile Dundee. But where does this legend come from, and what is his future?
In the days before scuba technology, the celebrated photographer sought to capture the beauty of the reef by placing corals in an aquarium and shooting them. But under stress, they released algae.
Though the Indigenous inhabitants were using white clay long before them, Sydney-made pottery helped colonists maintain different aspects of ‘civilised’ behaviour.
When Flos Greig first entered law school, it was illegal for women to become lawyers. Undeterred, she lobbied for change and became the first woman admitted to the legal profession in Australia.
Nimbin before and after: local voices on how the 1973 Aquarius Festival changed a town forever
The Conversation, CC BY69.6 MB (download)
The stories shared with you today are drawn from consultations and interviews with more than 60 Nimbin residents, Aquarius Festival participants and Indigenous elders.
The stories I share with you today are drawn from consultations and interviews with more than 60 Nimbin residents, Aquarius Festival participants and Indigenous elders.
The story of Australia has been studied and explored many times by researchers. Look what they’ve revealed, so far.
Top contributors
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Professor in Public History, University of Technology Sydney
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Director, Vice-Chancellor's Centre of Public Ideas (CoPI) and Donald Horne Professor of History and Public Ideas, University of Canberra
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Emeritus Professor, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
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Professor of History and Professor of Public Engagement, La Trobe University
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Wesfarmers Chair of Australian History, The University of Western Australia
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Senior Lecturer in History, La Trobe University
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Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, Monash University
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Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor, Monash University. Deputy Director ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, Monash University
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Professor of History, President, Australian Historical Association, Macquarie University
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Professor, Australian and Aboriginal History, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, Convenor: Indigenous Land & Justice Research Group, UNSW
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Professor Emeritus of Media and Culture, Griffith University, Griffith University
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Professor in History, University of Tasmania
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Professor of Linguistics, Monash University
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Professorial Fellow in History, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne
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Professor, Critical Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University