Wominjeka! Yumalundi!*

We pay respect to First Nations people and to their Elders past, present and emerging. This website was developed in Naarm (Wurundjeri Country, Kulin Nation) and Kamberri (Ngambri and Ngunnawal people) on land that always was and always will be Aboriginal and has never been ceded. This website contains information and images (including images of people who have died) that may cause distress to First Nations people. 
* Wominjeka means ‘welcome’ or ‘come with purpose’ in the Woiwurrung language of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. Yumalundi means ‘Hello’ in the Ngunnawal language of the Canberra traditional owners.

Defending Country

Defending Country applies to all who have fought for Australia or parts of it. It applies just as much to First Australians (Arrernte, Noongar, Wiradjuri, and others), defending their Country on Country (and dying on Country), as it does to uniformed Australians fighting our overseas wars.

For an expanded explanation of Defending Country, link here.

As a veteran I can’t see how my service was somehow more deserving of being commemorated than that of First Australians warriors who fought bravely against superior forces. (Noel Turnbull, 104 Field Battery, Vietnam, 1968-69)

The Australian Frontier Wars

Read why the Australian Frontier Wars are important to Australia and Australians. In summary:

  • Australia is built on the Frontier Wars.
  • The Frontier Wars killed tens of thousands of Australians.
  • Intergenerational trauma cannot be left in the silence.
  • What we commemorate shows what we regard as important.
  • We need to close the Commemoration Gap.
Australia was fought for in an endless war of little, cruel battles. (David Marr, Killing for Country, 2023, p. 131)

Reading List Selections

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Frontier Wars
Queensland
Brisbane: The Aboriginal Presence 1824-1860 (2nd augmented edition, 2020; 1st edition, 1990)
Shaw, Barry, ed.
Seven papers covering overview of race relations, Aboriginal occupation before European settlement, impact of European settlement, Aboriginal resistance and European repression, sexual relations between Aborigines and Europeans. law, administration and the press, Aborigines in the local economy, failure of assimilation, fate of local clans.
Indigenous Affairs: Government
Commonwealth Closing the Gap 2023 Annual Report and 2024 Implementation Plan
Productivity Commission
The 2023 Annual Report assesses the Commonwealth’s delivery against actions outlined in the 2023 Implementation Plan. The 2024 Implementation Plan is forward looking, outlining the Commonwealth’s strategic priorities for Closing the Gap over the next year. The 2023 Annual Report and 2024 Implementation Plan is supported by the 2023 Annual Report Background Report and 2024 Implementation Plan – Background Plan as well as an interactive Commonwealth Closing the Gap Actions Table which contains all new and existing measures being undertaken by the Commonwealth to support Closing the Gap efforts. Additional supporting reports are the 2023 Partnership Stocktake and the 2023 Sector Strengthening Plan Action Updates.
First Nations History
Dark Emu: Black Seeds: Agriculture or Accident? (2014)
Pascoe, Bruce
Dark Emu puts forward an argument for a reconsideration of the hunter-gatherer tag for precolonial Aboriginal Australians. The evidence insists that Aboriginal people right across the continent were using domesticated plants, sowing, harvesting, irrigating and storing—behaviours inconsistent with the hunter-gatherer tag.

Related sites and organisations

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Patrons and Supporters

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Defending Country thanks these distinguished Australians for agreeing to be Patrons of our website and project. While each of them supports the objectives of the Defending Country campaign, they do not necessarily endorse every post or every word on the defendingcountry.au website and do not necessarily agree with each other on everything.

Patron
Thomas Mayo
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Patron
Clare Wright
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Patron
Henry Reynolds
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Patron
Megan Davis
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Testimonials

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Analysis of the Australian War Memorial's Corporate and Strategic Plans.
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News of appointments to NMA Council of Professors Wright (Chair) and Davis (Member), both Defending Country Patrons
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News about Professor Lynette Russell winning Mercator Fellowship
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Details of Inquiry into Truth and Justice Commission Bill 2024
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There is no doubt that multimedia technology can tell stories dramatically. These stories particularly resonate with…
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