history of australia Archives

Defining Moments in Australian History: Wave Hill walk-off

23 August 1966: 200 Gurindji stockmen, domestic workers and their families initiated strike action at Wave Hill Station in the Northern Territory.

History & Culture

Capturing despair

Nothing quite brought home the national shock of the tragedy of Cyclone Tracy in 1974 like this image. But what’s the full story behind it?

Tim the Yowie Man

The man buried three times

By definition, a final resting place is final, isn’t it? Well, not always, it seems.

History & Culture

Our early weathermen

Survival on the roof of mainland Australia was an unenviable but necessary challenge that tested the endurance skills of 19th-century weather forecasters.

History & Culture

Looking back at Loveday: Australia’s largest WWII internment camp

During World War II, civilians in Australia deemed “enemy aliens” – mostly those of German, Italian and Japanese descent – were housed in internment camps. The largest of the camps was Loveday Internment Camp in South Australia’s Riverland region, about 6km south of Barmera.

History & Culture

Discovering what it means to be the oldest living culture in the world

We often hear that Aboriginal peoples have been in Australia for 65,000 years, “the oldest living cultures in the world”. But what does this mean, given all living peoples on Earth have an ancestry that goes back into the mists of time?

Tim the Yowie Man

A tale of mistaken identity and whalebone picnics

For more than 20 years, the jawbone of a whale lay on the grass just behind the golden sands of Long Beach, near Batemans Bay on the South Coast of New South Wales.

History & Culture

Looking back at Australia’s largest political demonstration

In an unprecedented, and largely spontaneous, sign of national solidarity for reconciliation and support for First Nations people, more than 250,000 people walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on 28 May 2000.