eNewsletter
Newsletter August 2026
From the President
Welcome to our August newsletter, filled with events and opportunities at a time when questions of heritage have moved to centre stage. As you can see in our advocacy news, the History Council has recently released a statement regarding development in the Adelaide Park Lands. It is a part of our ongoing attempt to ensure that history and heritage issues are kept firmly in mind as development continues.
Elsewhere, plans for the 2026 regional lecture and workshops are gathering momentum. We’re very pleased to confirm that we’ll be in Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island on 6 November, along with a number of our metropolitan history and heritage institutions and the KI history community (and other interested people). More details in our next newsletter. We’re really looking forward to it!
Finally, don’t forget that, as an organisation without government funding, we rely solely on our members to assist us in our advocacy, our prize giving and our fellowships. It’s a new financial year, so please don’t forget to renew your membership here.
Have a great month in history! Matt.
News
Advocacy News
Adelaide Park Lands: Given recent developments, on 19 August, the History Council released a statement on the Adelaide Park Lands:
“The History Council of South Australia is concerned about the acceleration of destructive forms of development that threaten the heritage value of the Adelaide Park Lands. It urges the State Government not to jeopardise further the city’s heritage assets and to protect the special status, attributes and character of the Adelaide Park Lands. It further reminds the State Government of its responsibility under the Adelaide Park Lands Act 2005 “to provide for the protection of those park lands and for their management as a world-class asset to be preserved as an urban park for the benefit of present and future generations.”
National Cultural Policy: The Australian Government is now consulting on a new National Cultural Policy, the successor to Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place. Alongside the History Councils of Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia, the HCSA has submitted a joint submission to ensure that the place of history in the cultural life of the nation has a proper weighting in the new document.
Burnside Historical Society August bulletin
The latest edition of the society's bulletin is now available.
Labour History Society SA winter 2026 newsletter
The latest edition of the society's newsletter is now available.
Yankalilla and District Historical Society August newsletter
The latest edition of the society's newsletter is now available.
NSW History Awards shortlist announced
The State Library of NSW recently announced the shortlists for the 2026 NSW History Awards. Fourteen judges considered 208 entries across the six prize categories, with a total of $85,000 in prize money on offer. Included in the nominations this year were South Australian historians Natalie Harkin and Matthew Fitzpatrick.
Check out the shortlist on the State Library of NSW website here
Bay to Birdwood: vehicle registrations now open
The Bay to Birdwood will be held on Sunday 18 October 2026. Vehicle registrations are now open, with finish festival tickets soon to be released.
Further information and registration on the History Trust website.
Port Adelaide Historical Society Fundraiser
The Society is taking part in the 2026 People First Community Lottery. 100% of every $2 ticket sold through their page goes straight back to them - contributing to preserving Port Adelaide's history.
Further information and ticket purchase through their page here.
Grandparenting in Australia: a history (1945-2025)
A project team documenting the history of grandparenting in Australia is seeking oral history interviewees and/or 3-6 participants for a focus group in Adelaide/SA. It is an Australian Research Council-funded project (ARC DP250100728, Ethics Approval ANU H/2025/0115).
Participation involves a focus group lasting around 2 hours. They hope to run this before the end of July. It will be conducted in a comfortable, conversational setting. They are interested in hearing about experiences of grandparenting and being grandparented, biological and non-biological grandparenting. They are also keen to recruit several generations of the same family (provided grandchildren are over 18 years old).
Please note that participation is completely voluntary, and while no financial compensation is provided, your contribution will be invaluable to this important research.
If you’re interested in participating or would like more information about the project, the team would love to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions – they are happy to discuss the research in more detail and explain what participation would involve for you, your friends or your family.
Please contact: [email protected]
You can find out more about the project here:
ABC Radio National: The untold story of grandparenting in Australia
Swiss Researcher Seeking Letters and Diaries
Isabella Barbaric is a doctoral candidate at the University of Zurich. She is looking for letters and diaries for her research on the language of Swiss migrants to Australia 1850-2025. Isabella’s research project outline is available in German and English through the Universität Zürich website.
Isabella’s research outline also includes her email address. She would be very appreciative of assistance which HCSA members might be able to provide.
History Teachers' Association of South Australia 2026 Competitions
National History Challenge
A free research-based competition for Australian students. This year's theme is Voices.
Closing date 28 August 2026.
Further information on the challenge website here
Simpson Prize
The Simpson Prize is a civics-based, national research competition for Year 9 and 10 students which focuses on the service of Australians in World War One and World War Two. The question for this year’s national competition is: ‘How useful are artefacts and artwork as historical sources when researching the experience of Australians who served in either the First World War or Second World War?’
Discuss with reference to either WW1 or WW2.
Submissions due 4 November 2026.
Storage needed for John McDouall Stuart artefacts
The John McDouall Stuart Society is on the lookout for storage space for its collection. The society’s artefacts are held in ten boxes requiring about five square metres of secure storage space. The society’s display cabinets (currently dis-assembled) need an additional 10sqm of space. Ultimately, the goal is to have the collection located in a safe, secure space, open at times for general public viewing.
For further information or to assist, please contact society Co-President Tim Moore on [email protected].
Save the Queen: The Priscilla Project
A project is underway to restore the Priscilla bus from the film 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'. She was discovered on a property in rural New South Wales, having survived fire, floods, and exposure to the elements. The History Trust of South Australia is seeking donations to restore the bus and display her at the National Motor Museum in Birdwood.
Lectures, exhibitions, and events
When Fact Becomes Fiction: Re-presenting pioneering policewoman Kate Cocks
This month with Genealogy SA, Dr Lainie Anderson will join us to share her journey from historical research to historical fiction. Tickets are sold out in the library, but still available for online attendance.
Wednesday 2 September at 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Free for Genealogy SA members / $20 non-members
Further information and registration through Trybooking
Sharpen your Research Skills
Are you ready to take the next step in your family history journey? Learn how to sharpen your research skills and take yourself from a hobbyist family historian to the next level with this workshop.
Sunday 27 September at 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
$79 Genealogy SA members / $129 non-members
Modern History revision and exam preparation evening
This session will focus on strengthening your sources analysis and exam essay writing skills. You will also hear from Adelaide University Historian Dr. Philip Caudrey, who will present an insightful session on nation states.
This will be held on Wednesday, August 26th at 5.30 in lecture theatre 106, Napier building Adelaide University.
Labour History Society SA annual general meeting
The meeting will be held at the Box Factory Community Centre, 59 Regent Street (Sth) Adelaide. Sunday 30 August.
The general meeting will be held at 2pm, with the AGM at 3.30pm.
SA Medical Heritage Society meeting
Featuring Associate Professor Peter Speck, who will present: 'Phages, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love viruses'.
Thursday 27 August 2026, 6pm. Dulwich Community Centre, 14 Union Street, Dulwich.
Across the desk of Don Dunstan: Leading political change in the 1970s
This exhibition offers an insider’s look at this defining era. Focusing on his second term as premier from 1970 to 1979, the display highlights the strategic vision and determination behind reforms that set national precedents.
21 September - 1 December 2026, 10am - 5pm daily. The Centre of democracy (Corner of North Terrace and Kintore Avenue).
Further information on the Don Dunstan Foundation website
Raise a glass 2026
The Don Dunstan Foundation's annual Raise a Glass event honours the enduring legacy of the former Premier. In 2026 it will kick off the Foundation's celebrations for Don Dunstan's centenary.
17 September 2026, 5.30pm - 7.30pm. The Strathmore Hotel - Verandah Bar, 129 North Terrace.
Further information and tickets through the Don Dunstan Foundation website
Book releases
Introduction to Whyalla Coastline
Introduction to Whyalla Coastline – written by local author / council’s Tourism Assets Officer Paul Mazourek – is now available to the community, providing an overview of the coastline from Douglas Point in the north to Murninnie Beach in the south.
The guide highlights significant coastal locations and aims to increase awareness and appreciation of the region's unique coastal environment.
Available to purchase from the Whyalla Visitor Centre
Tel: 1800 088 589 (Free); 08 8645 7900
Email: [email protected]
Cost: $16.50 (incl GST)
Further information through the Whyalla City Council website here
The sixth edition of the Oral History Handbook
Beth M Robertson has published the Sixth Edition of the Oral History Handbook: Preserving Voices and Memories for the Historical Record.
The First Edition of the Oral History Handbook was published in 1983 as an A5 booklet by the committee of South Australia’s Oral History Association, of which Beth was a member. She has authored the expansion and transformation of the title through five subsequent editions, during which it became recognised as the national standard for oral history practice in Australia.
The Oral History Handbook provides clear, concise and current information about the purpose, value, and reliability of oral history; the ethical and legal foundations of best practice; how to plan and manage an oral history project or whole-of-life interview; adaptable interview structures; the technology and practices required to achieve high-quality recordings; the skills needed to conduct effective interviews; and undertaking accurate transcription in an AI environment.
It summarises cutting edge scholarship about memory and remembering and, in a departure from previous editions, focuses on ways in which interviewers, project managers and researchers can support the ethical use of oral histories. This is presented through three lenses: ways of evaluating the reliability and validity of interviews, preparing archive-ready descriptive metadata and interview summaries, and editing oral histories. The new book also includes a comprehensive index.
The book is self-published under the auspices of Oral History Australia and is available via the sales website. RRP: $40.00 plus postage ($8.50 for single orders).
Nooks and Crannies, by the History Council of South Australia
South Australian historical groups and museums keen to boost their income are invited to order copies of the History Council of South Australia’s new publication Nooks and Crannies at wholesale price from publisher Wakefield Press.
Nooks and Crannies: Stories of South Australia is an eclectic collection of short essays on South Australian inventions, migration, industry, heritage, museums and associations, both new and old, Indigenous and settler. RRP: $39.95.
For more information or to order, contact Michael Bollen at Wakefield Press at [email protected]
Please note: wholesale is 40% off the RRP (or $23.97) with free delivery for orders over $100!
Calls for papers
Call for Special Issue Proposals: nineteenth-century contexts
The journal Nineteenth-Century Contexts invites proposals from prospective guest editors for Special Issues addressing any aspect of the nineteenth century. As an interdisciplinary journal, they welcome proposals from a wide range of fields, especially, but not limited to, English literature, history, art, musicology, anthropology, religious studies, sociology, economics, philosophy, and other humanities, arts, and social sciences.
Opportunities
Muriel Matters Awards
The closing date for schools with secondary enrolments to nominate their 2026 winner is Friday, September 25th.
Click on this link for details of the criteria, and nature of this award a recognizing the citizenship students demonstrate and making them aware of Muriel Matters life as a champion of democracy and women’s rights.
