Welcome the the Australian Frontier Conflicts (1788–1940s and Beyond) website. It seeks to document the frontier conflicts between European colonists and Australia’s First Peoples. The author of, and contributors to, the Australian Frontier Conflicts website acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and future. We extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today and in the future.
WARNING: This website and links to other sources, contain images, names, or voices of deceased people, for example, in text, etchings, databases, audio recordings, film, news media, photographs, podcasts, and printed material.
The information on this website is publicly available. There may be copyright restrictions on some material depicted or referred to on this website, for example, images, articles, books, films, videos still subject to copyright. Please check the Australian Copyright Council’s website at https://www.copyright.org.au for information about copyright in Australia and what publications are affected.
‘Mounted Police and Blacks’ by Godfrey Charles Mundy, 1852.
Depicts the killing of Aboriginals at Slaughterhouse Creek (Waterloo Creek), New South Wales by British troops in 1838. Australian War Memorial ART 50023, www.awm.gov.au/collection/ART50023
Latest News
Note: In 2019 news items related to the Australian Frontier Wars website were posted on Facebook while the website was experiencing technical problems. There is no longer a Facebook page related to this website.
The Native Mounted Police: extermination on the Australian frontier
Military historian, Professor Peter Stanley of the University of New South Wales, Canberra writes in Pearls and Irritations, 19 July 2023 about why the Australian War Memorial does not wish to include the part [...]
Hobart’s Crowther Statue to be removed
A controversial statue of a controversial colonial figure, William Crowther, is to be removed from public display. Temporary signage next to the state's plinth will be erected to explain the reasons why the astatine [...]
Greg Melick, the AWM and Frontier Wars
https://johnmenadue.com/greg-melick-the-awm-and-frontier-wars/ Posted by Noel Turnbull on Pearls and Irritations, 22 June 2023
Myall Creek Commemoration June Long Weekend 2023
The annual commemoration of the Myall Creek Massacre in 1838 will be held at Bingara, New South Wales from 9–11 June 2023. For more details see the Friends of Myall Creek website: http://myallcreek.org/ The [...]
Nauo people back from near annihilation with hopes native title will deliver bright future
In the mid-1800s the Nauo people of what is known today in English as the Eyre Peninsula, were almost wiped out by the arrival of colonists. Today Nauo survivors are able to tell their [...]
How (hard) They Fought: sophistication of First Nations’ resistance
John Menadue's online Public Policy Journal, Pearls and Irritations, brings the caring and concerned among us more news about Dr Ray Kerhove's new book, How They Fought, Boolarong Press, 2023 about how First Peoples [...]
Compiled by Jane Morrison 2012–2022. Updated 25, 30 October, 23 November 2022.