Updates

Updates to the website are ongoing as research and collaboration continues. We welcome feedback to improve the information on this website. If possible please provide sources for any suggested changes and additions.

We are currently working on:

  • Linking to web sites, recordings and other information by people whose country this conflict occurred in.
  • Summaries of each war or resistance movement, by historians and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people who are knowledgeable in that area.
  • Systems to compile collections of full text primary sources from colonial records, and compiling those collections.
  • Systems to identify named and unammed people, places and events in wars, and then to list people and map places and events in each war.
  • Setting up a section to address common questions and issues in relation to Australian Wars and Resistance.
  • A guide on how to research Australian Wars and Resistance.
  • Setting up as an organisation to raise funds to carry out this work effectively.

Donations make a big difference in helping us do this work.

What is War? Dr Sam White explains.

January 1, 1970
Dr Sam White has contributed an article explaining what 'war' means in Australia's unique historical context, and the forms it has taken here, with reference to the theory of war and Australian Army research. See "What is War? The classification of belligerancy" under 'What is war? Definitions and Theory' on the 'Themes' page.

People Linked to Events

November 9, 2026
Systems for linking people and events installed. See Dungala to Naarm as an example. This establishes a way to find and navigate information. Mapping their intersecting paths through the events they were involved in, something of people's individual stories emerges. This completes an end to end process for finding information in sources, organising as data, and mapping it, so that individuals personal stories can be found and understood.

New 'Themes' section on common questions and topics

August 26, 2026
A new section has been added to the Australian Wars and Resistance websites on 'Themes'. This section will cover various topics in the Australian Wars and Resistance, and consider many of the common questions that arise when discussing them. Starting with just a few themes, this section will be added to over time.

Data from 'The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies' included

March 20, 2026
Data from 'The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies' has been generously contributed to Australian Wars and Resistance. This has lead to the addition of 'Coorong, Adelaide and Yorke War and Resistance' to the map, and hundreds of conflict events being added to:

Miwatj War and Resistance

February 25, 2026
Sam White has provided a summary of late period conflict in Miwatj country (North East Arnhem Land), with previously published stories in language. In future, more will be added about earlier conflict in the region, and conflict to the east around Blue Mud Bay.

Colonial News on Gomeroi Resistance Compiled

January 30, 2026
Methods developed to gather colonial newspaper articles from Trove, clean OCR errors, sort and compile full text sources ready for publication for web, print and eReader by Bill Pascoe. Eg: Gomeroi Resistance.

Far North Queensland, Cairns Summary

January 15, 2026
Summary of Far North Queensland, Cairns War and Resistance provided by historian Timothy Bottoms.

Roper River and Daly River Summaries

November 15, 2025
Summaries of Roper River and Daly River War and Resistance provided by historian Robyn Smith.

Systems for finding people in archives

October 15, 2025
Computational methods for identifying and listing named and unnamed people in texts about wars and resistance, developed by Bill Pascoe. Eg: Second Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal War and Resistance.

Meetings begin

February 15, 2025
Australian Wars and Resistance collective meetings begin.

First Wiradjuri War Mapped

December 15, 2024
Map of incidents in the First Wiradjuri War produced by Stephen Gapps and Bill Pascoe.

39 Wars or Resistance movements identified

November 15, 2024
Computational methods combined with historical research used to identify 39 wars or resistance movements and 2 areas of maritime conflicts, within 12 regions, and within 4 broad periods, by Bill Pascoe, using computational clustering methods developed by Kaine Usher and Bill Pascoe.

Australian Wars and Resistance feasibility study

December 15, 2022
Feasibility study on mapping Australian Wars and Resistance across the continent conducted by Bill Pascoe as part of the Historical Frontier Violence project.