Reading list

Current First Nations titles held by this Melbourne bookshop. Other bookshops have similar lists.

One event in 1934—the shooting at Uluru of Aboriginal man Yokununna by white policeman Bill McKinnon, and subsequent Commonwealth inquiry—stood out as a mirror of racial politics in the Northern Territory at the time. But then, through speaking with the families of both killer and victim, McKenna unearthed new evidence that transformed the historical record and the meaning of the event for today. As he explains, ‘Every thread of the story connected to the present in surprising ways.’ In a sequence of powerful revelations, McKenna explores what truth-telling and reconciliation look like in practice.

This report was handed to the Joint Council on Closing the Gap on 24 January 2024 and publicly released on 7 February 2024. This is the Productivity Commission’s first review of progress on the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. The key message of this report is that fundamental changes are required to deliver on the Agreement.

The key messages are: there is some evidence that governments demonstrate ability and willingness to partner in shared decision-making but change is not occurring; accountability is limited; progress is falling short of envisaged expectations.

'The Great War was never the greatest war in Australian history. Strong evidence suggests that colonial Queensland’s frontier wars alone took the lives of more than 68 000 Australians, whereas World War I in comparison accounts for the loss of 63 000 Australians’ lives.’ Extracts from and reviews of his book Frontier Wars Revisited, other resources.

The original 1990 Satellite Dreaming TV program traced Indigenous media work in Australia to that point and this website takes the story further. Has essays, a timeline and references to media milestones and important works, such as the movies Samson and Delilah (2009) and Sweet Country (2017), and the TV series Redfern Now (2013).

Compiled by Belinda Mason and Dieter Knierim from Blur Projects, this is a photographic exhibition (with accompanying personal stories) depicting dozens of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have served in the Australian Defence Force. The photographs are beautiful, the stories often revealing, but the very occasional references (we found about five from more than 200 people) to First Nations warriors defending Country but not serving in the ADF (that is, references to the Frontier Wars) are guarded and wary. They are, of course, entitled to be that way if that is the feeling of the people speaking. The website has an introduction from Governor-General David Hurley, who notes that 'Australia’s First Nations peoples have a long tradition of serving in the Australian Defence Force'. The Department of Veterans' Affairs is one of eight Supporters of the exhibition.

After decades of silence, Serving Our Country is the first comprehensive history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's participation in the Australian defence forces. While Indigenous Australians have enlisted in the defence forces since the Boer War, for much of this time they defied racist restrictions and were denied full citizenship rights on their return to civilian life. In Serving Our Country Mick Dodson, John Maynard, Joan Beaumont, Noah Riseman, Allison Cadzow, and others reveal the courage, resilience, and trauma of Indigenous defence personnel and their families, and document the long struggle to gain recognition for their role in the defence of Australia.

Travels in outback Queensland, covering among other things frontier genocide, race relations, murders, massacres, poisoning, and the role of the Native Police.

Overview of the reaction of government authorities to Aborigines in the Northern Territory during the period 1863 to 1910, when the Territory was controlled by South Australia; what policy development there was is set in the context of how the government and white settlers viewed Aborigines; influence of social Darwinism on policy and attitudes; contact history and violent conflict on the frontier as Europeans attempted to realise the economic promises made by government; use of Aboriginal labour, policies on education and welfare.

Seeks to document the frontier conflicts between European colonists and Australia’s First Peoples. Maps, timelines, names of warriors, memorials, resources, latest news. Separate sites for each state.

Seeks to document the frontier conflicts between European colonists and Australia’s First Peoples. Maps, timelines, names of warriors, memorials, resources, latest news. Separate sites for each state.