People's History of Australia
Latest posts
Episode 3 – Racists go home! Protesting the 1971 Springbok tour of Australia
In 1971, Australia exploded with protest against a sporting tour by the white supremacist South African rugby union team – the Springbok. The Springbok were the ultimate international symbol...
Episode 2 – The Unemployed Workers’ Movement in 1930s Sydney
In 1929, the world plunged into the most catastrophic economic crisis in modern history – the Great Depression. The effect of the Depression on ordinary people across Australia was...
Episode 1 – The Brunswick Kortex sweatshop strike, 1981
In December 1981, 300 women working at the Kortex textile factory in Brunswick, Melbourne, rose up against their employer and went on strike. None of the women at Kortex...
About this site




People’s History of Australia is a podcast and blog looking at Australian history from the perspective of ordinary people fighting together for a better life. While most of the history we get taught focuses on the deeds of the great and powerful, we want to turn this upside down, and amplify those moments when ordinary people across Australia have made history – by coming together, overcoming the barriers and divisions that keep us isolated and atomised, and struggling collectively for justice.
Episode 4 – The life and times of Nick Origlass, the Red Mayor of Leichhardt
In 1971, Nick Origlass, a Trotskyist revolutionary, was elected as the mayor of Leichhardt Municipal Council in Sydney – one of the most unusual developments in Australian political history....
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Spotify | Stitcher | Deezer | RSS