Most Viewed Keyword Australian History

A story of struggle and tragedy, the film features harrowing underground disasters, heroic rescues and traces a history of strikes, industrial turmoil and the current push by global mining giants to destroy regional communities and replace local mineworkers with a subservient itinerant workforce.

From the life and criminal career of bushranger Dan Morgan, leading up to his violent death at the hands of police.

Beth Tyson is murdered in her mansion. Chief Inspector Fields, Inspector Bramell and Detective Philbert present three different versions of this crime.

Packed with drama, high emotions and cliff-hanger moments, Australia Says Yes is the intimate and personal history of struggle and perseverance that propelled Australia to say Yes to marriage equality. The film shows how a group of determined individuals fought tirelessly against unjust laws that treated LGBTIQ people as second-class citizens, creating a movement that saw them go from criminals to legally equal over the course of five decades.

For the Honour of Australia is a 1916 film composed of footage from two 1915 Australian silent films, For Australia and How We Beat the Emden, plus the documentary How We Fought the Emden.

The Ripple Effect is a powerful documentary primarily centred around St Kilda legend and proud Noongar Nicky Winmar's generation-defining stand against racism at Victoria Park in 1993.

A poetic cine-essay about race and Australia’s colonised history and how it impacts into the present offering insights into how various individuals deal with the traumatic legacies of British colonialism and its race-based policies. The film’s consultative process, with ‘Respecting Cultures’ (Tasmanian Aboriginal Protocols), offers an evolving shift in Australian historical narratives from the frontier wars, to one of diverse peoples working through historical trauma in a process of decolonisation.

Australia was colonized in the late 1700s. Pemulwuy, a man of the Bidjigal tribes — from the region that is today modern-day Sydney — led a 12-year resistance against British settlers moving into his people’s traditional lands.

Julie Peters is a legend in the trans community in Australia. She was the first person to transition at the ABC, at a time when there were no role models around her. From her early twenties, Julie started collecting anything trans or queer related to help her work out who she was. Over the years she’s collected one of the most comprehensive trans archives in the country. Including Interview with ABC MD David Anderson.

A compelling portrait of an extraordinary figure, Aboriginal WWI soldier Douglas Grant, featuring acclaimed Indigenous actor Balang Tom E. Lewis (in his final performance). Grant (c.1885-1951) was extraordinarily famous in his day, an intellectual, a journalist, a soldier, a reader of Shakespeare and a bagpipe player who could put on a fine Scottish accent. His life story connects Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Adolf Hitler, and Henry Lawson among other famous figures as he moved from Australia to Europe, UK and back. Lewis’s thoughtful and often playful reflections on Grant’s life, along with guest appearances from Max Cullen and Archie Roach, connect to the larger story of Australia’s tragic colonial history and its troubled relationship with First Australians.  

Sydney in Time is a rich and powerful story that charts the evolution of Sydney from its early years as a colonial outpost through to its emergence as a dynamic world city. The one-hour documentary looks back at the people, places and front page stories that have shaped a great city and helped define Australia.

This documentary explores the life and times of Russell Dean Willey, a neo-Nazi supergrass, in order to explain the presence of Jack Van Tongeren's Australian Nationalists Movement in Australia, and its spread, especially in difficult economic times.

An epic tale about the making of Australia. This tells the stories of the founding fathers and of the people in six separate colonies in the decades leading to Federation. It's a tale of winners and losers, of great debates which unified the country, of the struggle not just to make an Australian nation, but to create Australian democracy.

A story based on true events about two explorers on a doomed journey trying to cross Australia on foot in the 19 century.

Over 5 red-hot summers between 1990 and 2007, Australia dominated the Ashes down under like never before: in 25 test matches, the rampant Aussies won 18 and lost just 3. It was an unforgettable era when all-time greats including Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Allan Border and Steve Waugh inflicted cricket misery upon the English. While Australia re-wrote the record books - showing the inventors of the game how to dominate it We relive unforgettable moments from this all-conquering age: Steve Waugh's career-saving last-ball century; Shane Warne's Ashes hat-trick, the first in over 90 years; Adelaide's amazing victory plucked from nowhere during the 5-nil whitewash of 2006/07. Aussie's lethal bowling artillery: while McGrath and Warne dined out on England's batsmen, Jason Gillespie, Stuart MacGill, Merv Hughes, Brett Lee and Bruce Reid delivered their own brand of merciless bowling attack. These were the wonder years when Australia made history - and England was history.

WINHANGANHA (Wiradjuri language: Remember, know, think) - is a lyrical journey of archival footage and sound, poetry and original composition. It is an examination of how archives and the legacies of collection affect First Nations people and wider Australia, told through the lens of acclaimed Wiradjuri artist, Jazz Money.

Jazmin Theodora, 83 is A Nimbin Local Legend and Tarot reader. Jazmin uses her physic abilities to get people in touch with who they are. Her story is about always being yourself. Own who you are and be proud of who you are, regardless of your age. A strong, passionate woman, Jazmin’s zest life shines through inspiring others to live their very best life.

For both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, Captain James Cook is a figure of great historical significance.

System (2025) is a short documentary film exploring intergenerational connections to land and country. Interviews with Aunty Denise Morgan Bulled, a Yorta Yorta Elder; John Toll and his family, fourth-generation farmers in Gunbower wetlands; and two Local 10 year olds, Harry and his friend Mac. The film reflects on how the river system shapes their daily lives, impacts their quality of life, and influences their passion for country.

In the midst of The Great Emu War and post depression in rural Australia, two contrasting yet equally half-witted farmers, John and Rob, face head to head with one of the dangerous beasts. Against the guidance of indifferent Army officials, the farmers deal with the situation themselves.

Presented with humour and verve, Australian Encounters celebrates ten historic encounters, each between a renowned Australian and an international mover and shaker.

In 1806, William Thornhill is sentenced to New South Wales for life where he is drawn into a terrifying conflict that will leave a bloody and indelible stain.

The True Believers is a 1988 Australian mini series which looks at the history of the Australian Labor Party from the end of World War Two up to the Australian Labor Party split of 1955. It was co-written by Bob Ellis who focused on three characters "Chifley, the unlettered man of great dignity; Menzies, who used to stand for something but eventually stood only for Menzies; and Evatt, the grand idealist... It's almost like Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1. It's a chunk of national history during Australia's great era of change after the war."

Bastard Boys is an Australian television miniseries broadcast on the ABC in 2007. It tells the story of the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute. The script, published by Currency Press, won the 2007 Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Best Television Script.

Australia: The Story of Us is an extraordinary journey through the people, places and events that have shaped Australia, from the first footprints on our continent to the present day. Astounding visual sequences, amazing CGI and dramatic re-enactments bring these stories to life and show how we came to be the country we are today.

Armed with his 1913 Bradshaw’s Handbook to the Chief Cities of the World, Michael embarks on six new railway journeys across spectacular Australia.

The true story of the brutal World War II military campaign fought between Australia and Japan in the green hell of the mountains of Papua New Guinea. Told from both the Japanese and Australian perspectives the documentary also explores the impact of the decisions of high command on the soldiers at the front line.

An Australian educational comedy television series based on the American series (and earlier web series) of the same name. In each episode, an inebriated celebrity struggles to recount a historical event, while actors reconstruct and enact the narrator's anecdotes while lip syncing the dialogue.

Bill Peach explains the stories of the great 18th and 19th century explorers of Australia, complete with full-cast re-enactments.

First Australians is an Australian historical documentary series produced by Blackfella Films over the course of six years, and first aired in October 2008. The documentary is part of a greater project that further consists of a hard-cover book, a community outreach program and a substantial website featuring over 200 mini-documentaries. The series chronicles the history of contemporary Australia, from the perspective of its first people, or Aborigines. The series is essentially a synthesis of well documented historical information. It relies heavily on archival documents and interpretations from historians and members of both the Indigenous and European community and leaders. The story begins in 1788 in Sydney, with the arrival of the First Fleet and ends in 1993 with Koiki Mabo's legal challenge to the foundation of Australia. The series comprises seven episodes in which it explores what unfolded when the oldest living culture in the world was confronted by the British Empire. It explores the lives of particular individuals and uses their stories as a vehicle to explain the larger situations of the time. It explains violent aspects of European settlement of Australia, such as killings, battles, wars, as well as acts of friendship and decency between the early European settlers and Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australian history has until recently been clouded by the "great Australian silence" where ignorance of the real history of Australia can be seen as a way for non-Indigenous to hide shame for their own history. In this respect it has been controversial in that many of these stories have not been portrayed on Australian television before and the Indigenous Australian perspective of European settlement is confrontational for many.

The murder of Stephanie Scott in 2015 shocked Australia: the local schoolteacher and young bride-to-be was brutally slaughtered at her workplace.

Explore the chilling mystery of 67 murdered and missing young women between Newcastle and Byron Bay that have remained unsolved for decades, with not a single arrest made