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4 people stand outside a building

Aboriginal History WA hits the road in the Goldfields 🛣️

Mar 24, 2026
The Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport’s (CITS) Aboriginal History WA (AHWA) team travelled through the Goldfields this month, delivering Aboriginal family history information sessions and connecting with Aboriginal people and local organisations across the region.

Tags: AHWA Family history Goldfields

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4 people stand outside a building

Aboriginal History WA hits the road in the Goldfields 🛣️

24 March 2026
The Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport’s (CITS) Aboriginal History WA (AHWA) team travelled through the Goldfields this month, delivering Aboriginal family history information sessions and connecting with Aboriginal people and local organisations across the region.
A historical photo of the Dulhi Gunyah Orphanage in East Victoria Park, circa 1911. Image is from the Western Mail, 23 December 1911, page 11.

Aboriginal family history information preserved in new index

28 January 2026

Media release

Historic records detailing the experiences of Aboriginal children placed in the Dulhi Gunyah Orphanage in East Victoria Park between 1909 and 1919 have been preserved in a newly developed, searchable database.

Aboriginal History WA heads to the Midwest for family history road trip

7 July 2025

Media release

Aboriginal History Western Australia (AHWA) and the State Library of Western Australia's Storylines will be hitting the road and heading to the Midwest this August to deliver free family history information sessions for First Nations peoples.
Children's Week WA 2024 18 to 27 October 2024

Celebrating our amazing children and inspiring the next generation

18 October 2024
Children's Week 2024: a week of fun, learning, and advocacy for children throughout Western Australia
Historical photo, Circa 1916 showing Aboriginal people gathering at the Carrolup Settlement for food distribution

New database establishes links to former Aboriginal settlement

26 May 2024

Media release

We've released a searchable database of the men, women and children admitted to Carrolup Settlement between 1915 and 1922, and those who passed away and were buried at Carrolup or the nearby Katanning Cemetery up until 1949.
Mina Mina by Renita Brown Nungurrayi © Renita Brown Nungurray

2024 Reconciliation Week Street Banners are up

23 May 2024

Media release

Organisations and local governments across metropolitan Perth and regional WA have once again joined together in a stunning display of unity through the annual Reconciliation Week Street Banners Project.
Pictured: AHWA researchers Duane Kelly and Leanne McDonagh

AHWA takes truth telling and family research to the regions

30 April 2024
Team members from Aboriginal History Western Australia (AHWA) and the State Library of Western Australia's Storylines program hit the road in March to hold free family history sessions in the Great Southern and Wheatbelt.
Aboriginal dot painting with text: Aboriginal History WA and Storylines are coming to the Great Southern and Wheatbelt

Aboriginal History WA and Storylines take off on regional road trip

11 March 2024

Media release

Team members from Aboriginal History Western Australia (AHWA) and the State Library of Western Australia's Storylines will be hitting the road this March to jointly hold free family history sessions in the Great Southern and Wheatbelt.
Mel Walley-Stack, Director of AHWA , Minister and Mark Chambers from AHWA looking at historical records.

New face-to-face space for Aboriginal people seeking family history

19 December 2023

Media release

Aboriginal people who want to learn more about their family history now have a dedicated client space within the State Library to request ancestry information and research services.
Working townsite plan of Badjaling

Historical town blocks granted to Aboriginal people in Western Australia

2 October 2023
A new database is now available, revealing town blocks purchased, leased and licensed by Aboriginal people throughout Western Australia between 1900 and 1960.
Remembering Mount Margaret Mission cover

Remembering Mount Margaret Mission’ sheds light on a history seldom told

4 August 2022
A unique insight into the lives of Aboriginal children living at the Mount Margaret Mission, located on Wongatha land in the Goldfields-Esperance region, has been produced by the State Government’s Aboriginal History WA.
Historical Agricultural and Pastoral Leases

Publications promote richness of shared history

3 June 2022
Two publications launched during Reconciliation Week are connecting people to their Aboriginal history and celebrating the richness of Western Australia’s shared history.
Reconciliation banners on St Georges Terrace, Perth

Street banners celebrate National Reconciliation Week

1 June 2021
Organisations from across Western Australia are showing their commitment to and support for reconciliation by sponsoring a banner through the Reconciliation Week Street Banner Project.
Norman Tindale Collection cover showing an old photograph

New online resource helps trace Aboriginal family histories

25 September 2020

Media release

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Wyatt today launched the Norman Tindale Collection which includes genealogical information and photographs from Aboriginal communities throughout Australia.
Aboriginal children at Moore River Settlement Church, courtesy of the AHWA collection.

Aboriginal History WA helping Western Australians unlock their Aboriginal ancestry

3 June 2020

Media release

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Wyatt is encouraging Western Australians to use the services of Aboriginal History WA (AHWA) to learn about their Aboriginal ancestry, after gaining access to his own family records.
Rottnest Island Lighthouse on top of the steps from the beach.

State Government commences historic Rottnest Island Wadjemup Project

2 June 2020

Media release

A project to reconcile the history of Aboriginal people's imprisonment at Rottnest Island is one step closer, with the development of a cultural authority process to lead State-wide Aboriginal community engagement.

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Page reviewed 21 January 2026
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