The story behind Award-winning documentary series: The Australian Wars

Acclaimed three-part documentary series The Australian Wars – which powerfully examines the battles fought on home soil as the British colonial front pushed forward, and First Nations peoples resisted – has been recognised with awards for Best Direction in Non-Fiction Television, Best Documentary or Factual Program and Best Editing in a Documentary Program at the 2024 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) awards.

Presented and directed by filmmaker Rachel Perkins, the series has gained numerous accolades since its premiere on SBS and SBS on Demand in September 2022.

Over three episodes, Perkins journeyed across the continent to explore the breadth of warfare, strategy, and forceful resistance that occurred, revealing new evidence and challenging the way conflicts are recognised in the Australian War Memorial.

The themes, stories and revelations from the series were further explored across the network, including in NITV’s special panel program, Land Wars, examining the ongoing impact today, and accompanying SBS Learn education resources.

The series got the nation talking, has been acquired by the BBC for broadcast in the United Kingdom, and has been recognised with a string of awards including:

Content Innovation Award for Representation and Inclusion – Unscripted at the 2023 Content Innovation Awards.

Digital History Prize at the 2023 New South Wales Premier’s History Awards

Gold (History & Society) at the 2023 New York Festival Awards

Most Outstanding Factual or Documentary Program at the 2023 TV Week Logie Awards

Best Documentary/Factual Series at the 2023 Australian International Documentary Awards

Achievement in Casting at the 2022 Casting Guild of Australia Award

Nominations for the 2023 Screen Diversity and Inclusion Award at the annual Screen Producers Australia Awards.

As the series aired, the Australian War Memorial announced an intention to expand its recognition of the Frontier Wars, with a “much broader, a much deeper depiction and presentation of the violence committed against Indigenous people” as part of the institution’s redevelopment.

The Australian Wars is available to stream on SBS On Demand for free here: https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-series/the-australian-wars