People's History of Australia

We're a podcast about ordinary people across Australia fighting together for a better life and a better world.
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Latest episodes

Ep 26 – War on the waterfront: the 1998 maritime dispute

In April 1998, Australia suddenly erupted into industrial war. Security guards with dogs and balaclavas swarmed docks across the country, threw out all 1,400 unionised workers at Patrick Stevedores,...

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Ep 25 – Resisting the invasion of Sydney, 1788 – 1817

The idea that Australia was invaded in 1788 is strangely controversial. A Google search for the phrase ‘Was Australia invaded’ provides an AI-generated answer claiming that ‘Australia has not...

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Ep 24 – Art is a weapon: the New Theatre in Australia

In contemporary Australian mass culture, it’s hard if not impossible to find any representation of life as it’s lived by the majority of the population. Few movies, plays, TV...

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Ep 23 – Resistance on the line: the radical history of telephone operators

From the 1880s until the 1980s, telephone operators were at the centre of the communications industry in Australia. Before the invention of the internet or mobile phones, virtually all...

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Ep 22 – The 1970s women’s liberation movement

In the late 1960s and 1970s, a powerful and radical new movement arose in Australia challenging the widespread oppression that women faced across the country – the women’s liberation...

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Ep 21 – Radical Chinese workers in Australian history

Throughout Australian history, non-white migrant workers have consistently been stereotyped as docile, submissive, and willing to work for extremely low wages. Nowhere has this been more true than for...

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About this site

GSG
Coal strike 1949
MUA 1998
Womens lib 1975

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.