Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have served in every major conflict in which Australia has been involved. Many personal service and other records have been digitised and are available online through the National Archives of Australia and Australian War Memorial websites.
Online resources
- Australian War Memorial - Indigenous defence service
A dedicated webpage summarizing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement in the war efforts.
- Serving Our Country: A History of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in the Defence of Australia
The Serving Our Country project documents the historical contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australia defence and auxiliary services from the Boer War to 2000. Throughout 2014 and 2015, Serving our Country conducted community Yarn Ups, recorded oral and video histories, researched archival papers and other sources to create a more inclusive understanding of Australia's defence history.
- Department of Aboriginal Affairs Western Australia - They Served with Honour
The Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Western Australia has produced an online publication (downloadable as a PDF file) to honour the contribution of the thirteen Western Australian Aboriginal servicemen who served at Gallipoli: James Dickerson, Lawrence Farmer, Lewis Farmer, Charles Hutchins, William John Jackson, Fred Lockyer, Randell Mason, William Mason, Arthur McCallum, James Melbourne, Gordon Charles Naley, Frederick Leslie Sayers and Claude Shaw.
In the Library
The Library's collecting strength lies for information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement in various war efforts is in it's print collection. Published books and histories often contain specific information about individual servicemen, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from a specific town, community or mission who engaged in military service.
Selected texts
The following texts have been selected to provide an overview of the types of published works in the Library's collection and of the information they generally contain:
- Aboriginal ex-servicemen of Central Australia. Compiled by George Bray, edited by Kenny Laughton, researched by Pat Forste
This brief history presents an honour roll of Aboriginal servicemen from Central Australia in World War I & World War II, as well as other campaigns such as Vietnam. Aboriginal ex-servicemen of Central Australia also contains several transcripts of oral histories collected from Aboriginal servicemen.
- The boys from Barambah : the story of the black diggers of Barambah-Cherbourg of World War 1. Compiled and written by Mark Newman, Sally Lawrence and Philippa Scarlett with assistance from Tanya Schneider and the ANZAC 100 Boys from Barambah Committee
The boys from Barambah presents history of the Barambah settlment (now known as Cherbourg) in Queensland. This history touches on race relations, treatment of Aboriginal people during the war period, and contains profiles of Aboriginal servicemen from the Barambah settlement.
- The black Diggers : Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in the Second World War. By Robert A. Hall
The black Diggers analyses the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and provides information on relations with missionaries, service personnel, military perceptions of Aboriginal people. Black Diggers also contains information on individual servicemen and women.
The following publications held by the Library contain lists of servicemen:
- Aboriginal ex-servicemen of Central Australia / [compiled by George Bray; edited by Kenny Laughton ; researched by Pat Forster]
- Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in the Second World War / by Robert A. Hall
- Ngarrindjeri Anzacs / Doreen Kartinyeri
- Aborigines in the defence of Australia / edited by Desmond Ball
- Honouring Indigenous War Graves Incorporated: recognising the services and sacrifices of our "Indigenous veterans"
- Forever warriors: this book honours all Western Australian Indigenous men & women who served in all conflicts / Jan (Kabarli) James
- Fighters from the fringe: Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders recall the Second World War / Robert A. Hall
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander volunteers for the AIF: the Indigenous response to World War One / Philippa Scarlett
- Too dark for the Light Horse : an exhibition of photographs & documents depicting Aboriginal involvement in the Australian Army at the Albury Regional Museum, August 11th - September 27th / compiled by David Huggonson
- Indigenous service: investigating the wartime experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from the First World War to the present: a resource for secondary schools / written by Jennet Cole-Adams and Judy Gauld ; contributing researchers: Paola Balla and Mat Jakobi