Australian Frontier Conflicts 1788-1940s

Welcome the the Australian Frontier Conflicts (1788-1940s) website. This website seeks to document the conflicts between European colonists and Australian Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples.

WARNING: This website and links to other sources, contain images, names, or voices of deceased people in text, etchings, photographs, film, audio recordings, news media 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

Timelines

The Timeline lists some known dates on which, and locations where, conflicts–from individual injuries and killings to large massacres and wars– occurred between colonists and First Peoples. The Timeline begins before the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788.

Maps

This Australian map, and State and Territory maps, show only some of the known Australian frontier conflict sites. For more conflicts that took place on Australian soil during the frontier period and even into the 20th century, please refer to the Australian Timeline and related State and Territory conflict lists. More sites will be added to these maps as time permits.

Warriors

Listed are some of the better-known Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander warriors who defended their lands in the 19th and early 20th centuries and examples of where you can find information about them. Warriors such as Bussamarai, Calyute, Windradyne and many more.

Memorials

Some memorials commemorate Aboriginal peoples who inhabited certain places before the arrival of colonists in 1788, but do not honour those who gave their lives in the defence of homelands from 1788 onwards. Examples of types of memorials follow.

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.

Remembering the Myall Creek Massacre 2021

jane2021-07-21T15:47:27+10:00July 21st, 2021|

Despite the bad weather at Bingara, New South Wales over the June long weekend, the 2021 Myall Creek Massacre memorial ceremony went ahead. Sophie Scanlon, NBN News, 13 June 2021, reported on the ceremony [...]

Manna Gums Frontier Wars Memorial Avenue opened at Daylesford, Hepburn Shire, Victoria

jane2021-07-14T15:16:54+10:00July 14th, 2021|

The Hepburn Shire Council in Victoria announced the opening of the Manna Gums Frontier Wars Memorial Avenue at Daylesford on 12 July 2021: Manna Gums memorial avenue sign, Daylesford, Hepburn Shire Council, Victoria [...]

Australia Was Founded on Genocide. It’s Time to Make Amends.

jane2021-07-14T14:27:34+10:00July 14th, 2021|

Gary Pearce reviews Henry Reynolds' book Truth-telling: History, Sovereignty and the Uluru Statement for Jacobin magazine, 27 June 2021: Read the review: https://jacobinmag.com/2021/06/australia-genocide-first-nations-indigenous-truth-telling-henry-reynolds-review

Eucalytus exhibition a means for truth-telling

jane2021-07-14T13:57:27+10:00July 14th, 2021|

Sydney's Powerhouse Museum is holding an exhibition, Eucalyptusdom, that is a way to tell the truth about Australia's history. Read more in Rachel Knowles' story from the National Indigenous Times on 6 July 2021: https://nit.com.au/eucalyptus-exhibition-a-means-for-truth-telling/ [...]

1789 epidemic killed about half of Sydney’s First People in 1789

jane2021-06-07T18:54:20+10:00June 7th, 2021|

A deadly illness, probably smallpox, tore through First Nations communities around Sydney Cove in 1789, killing possibly half their numbers, leaving the dead along its shores. Was this outbreak an infection passed on from [...]

‘Committed to truth-telling’: Council gives voice to Indigenous views on Cook’s cottage

jane2021-06-07T17:08:11+10:00May 27th, 2021|

Blak Cook Book: New Cultural Perspectives on Cook's Cottage, by Dr Clare Land, Dr Paola Balla and Kate Golding, is a new book on the legacy of Captain James Cook and Cook's Cottage from First [...]