We hope you all enjoyed the PHA National Conference that was held in Darwin between 25–26 October. If you were not able to make it, don’t worry, the two recipients of the travel bursary have provided two comprehensive reports. Thank you to Jacqui Newling and Allison O’Sullivan for taking the time to prepare these reports. … Read more
Dr Lisa Murray Chair, Professional Historians Association (NSW & ACT) The PHA (NSW & ACT) welcomes the state government’s nation-leading Writing and Literature Strategy. The Minister for Arts, John Graham launched the three-year strategy ‘Stories Matter’ at the State Library of NSW on 17 October 2025. The strategy aims to provide policy frameworks and funding … Read more
The 2025 Public History Awards were presented during History Week at Customs House in Sydney, as part of the History Council of NSW’s Annual History Awards. The 2025 Public History Award is supported by the Professional Historians Association (NSW & ACT), and the Australian Centre for Public History at the University of Technology Sydney. The … Read more
By Dr Katharine Blake, PHA Blog Editor Public history — history for the general public — is a ‘broad church.’ Diagrammatically it looks like a tree: with its roots in academic history, growing and branching out in many directions. It encompasses various styles; it caters to different audiences; and it’s created by different practitioners in … Read more
…by Minna Muhlen-Schulte In the Antipodes Christmas in July has become a mid-year winter tradition to indulge the food and booze we normally enjoy at the end of the year. What is the historical lineage behind turkeys, puddings, mince pies and mulled wine? In her new book Christmas Food and Feasting PHA NSW member Dr … Read more
…by Dr Marc Rerceretnam, principal researcher, Yesteryear Heritage Researchers The year 2019 is historically significant in Singapore. It marks the bicentenary of the founding of a modern trading outpost on the island. Although evidence of strong commercial activity goes back as far as the 14th century, by 1819 the island had reverted to a … Read more
… by Francesca Beddie What could be more apt after the four years of WWI commemoration than the question posed at Professional Historians New Zealand’s fifth conference in its twenty-five-year history — After the war: what’s next? And the answer: well, yes, more war history but also more diversity in whose stories are told … Read more
… by Stephen Gapps Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the waters of considered debate about the commemoration of Australia’s colonial origins, along comes Captain Cook. Again. The famous navigator, once considered to embody the correct set of qualities inherited in modern Australia instead of Governor Phillip and those … Read more
…by Birgit Heilmann I had a busy ‘I am away from my desk’ week in mid-October, installing my new exhibition Keep in touch. After more than one year in the making, I can now sit back and observe how visitors to Hurstville Museum & Gallery engage with this latest exhibition. Keep in touch takes … Read more
…Alinde Bierhuizen is the newest member of the PHA NSW & ACT committee and its new Secretary. She moved from her home country, the Netherlands, to Sydney last year and currently works as a freelance historian. What made you decide to pursue a career in history? I have always been interested in people: their … Read more