This post is on behalf of the Australian Wars and Resistance project. DC
New research has identified 39 distinct wars or resistance movements across the Australian continent from 1788 to the 1930s.
These conflicts are some of the most significant, yet unacknowledged, events in Australia’s history.
Thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people defended their lands, waters, culture and communities against colonial expansion.
‘This research builds on the work of many others to raise awareness through Truth-telling and acknowledgement', said Dr Bill Pascoe, a researcher with the Australian Wars and Resistance project. ‘Some wars and resistance movements are already recognised, but many have not been distinguished from the overall spread of violence.
‘There were regional focal points involving specific groups of people in distinct times and places. These were mortal conflicts over land, water, resources and the ability to exist as a people.
‘Violence and resistance continued after this period, but it changed form. Because wars and armed resistance were undeclared and there are no treaties, we need to distinguish where and when conflict happened amid thousands of real events.
‘What we are doing is combining archival research with computational methods and Indigenous knowledge, so we can distinguish one war from another, so the wars and the people involved in them can each be appropriately named, properly researched, and recognised.
‘With Treaty already being considered or negotiated in several states, this research is urgently needed, but it needs to be done the right way from the point of view of the communities still affected and whose country it happened in.’
The project builds upon the Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia, 1788–1930 database. It responds to calls for more context to the massacre work in order to map conflicts as part of broader wars of resistance.
The work is supported by more than fifty Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, historians, and archaeologists, ensuring a strong foundation in both Indigenous knowledge and academic research.
The project will continue to develop and present further findings, and will link to source materials on thousands of events and people, thus expanding public understanding of the scale and nature of these wars, and establishing a framework for education, Truth-telling and education.
For more information, and to support this important work, visit https://australianwars.net, which includes an interactive preliminary map of resistance sites.
Donations are welcome to ensure our history continues to be researched to reliably inform public debate and for future generations: https://www.gofundme.com/f/australian-wars-and-resistance
Australian Wars and Resistance Project
Melbourne, Australia, 2 September 2025
Contact: australianwars@gmail.com
More from
General
category
