እቲ ኣቓልቦ ዘይወሃቦ ታሪኽ: ወተሃራዊ ኣገልግሎት ኣቦርጂናዊያንን ቶረስ ስትሬት ኣይላንደራትን ኣብ መዓልቲ ኣንዛክ (ANZAC)

First Nations Anzac

The Australian War Memorial For Our Country memorial recognises the military service of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Credit: Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images

ኣብ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ዓመት ኣውስትራሊያውያን ነቶም ኣብ ውግእን ግጭትን ምዕቃብ ሰላምን ዘገልግሉ ንምዝካር ኣብ መዓልቲ ኣንዛክ ይእከቡ ። ናይ መን ዛንታ ኢና ግን እንዝክር ዘለና ? ኩሉ ግዜ ዘይንሰምዖ ዛንታታት ኣሎዶ? ኣብዚ ዛንታ እዚ ፡ ነቲ መብዛሕትኡ ግዜ ዕሽሽ ተባሒሉ ዝጸንሐ ኣገዳሲ ክፋል ታሪኽ ኣውስትራልያ ፡ ማለት ንኣገልግሎታት ኣቦርጅንን ቶረስ ስትረይን ኣይላንደራትን ኽንምርምሮ ኢና ።


  • ክንደይ ኣቦርጂንን ቶረስ ስትሬት ኣይላንደራት ፡ ኣብ ቀዳማይ ውግእ ዓለምን ካልኣይ ውግእ ዓለምን ኣገልጊሎም?
  • ቀዳሞት ህዝብታት ኣውስትራልያውያን ናብ ውትህድርና ክኣትዉ ኣብ ዝፍትኑሉ ዝነበሩ እዋን ፡ እንታይ ዕንቅፋታት እዩ ኣጋጢምዎም ?
  • ኣቦርጅናውያን ካብ ውግእ ናብ ዓዶም ምስ ተመልሱ ፡ እንታይ ኣጋጠሞም ?
  • ኣውስትራሊያ ነቲ ናይ ኣቦርጂናልን ቶረስ ስትሬት ኣይላንደራት ወተሃደራዊ ኣገልግሎት ሎሚ ከመይ እያ ኣፍልጦ ትህቦ?
  • ኣብዚ መዓልቲ ኣንዛክ ብዛዕባታሪኽ ኣቦርጂናውያንን ቶረስ ስትሬት ኣይስላንደርን እንታይ ክትፈልጥ'ዩ ዘሎካ ?

ብዙሓት ካብ ኣቦርጂናውያንን ቶረስ ስትሬት ኣይላንደርን ፡ ኣብ ቀዳማይን ካልኣይን ውግእ ዓለም ሓዊስካ ፡ ኣብ ሰራዊት ኣውስትራልያ ኣገልጊሎም እዮም ፣ እዚኦም ኣብ ዉትህድርና ከይገልግሉ ዝኽልከሉ'ኳ እንተ ነበሩ ምስቶም ደቀባት ዘይኮኑ ሓቢሮም እዮም ኣገልጊሎም ።

ሎሚ ታሪኾም ተቐባልነት ክረክብን ዝዝከሩን ንክኾኑ ዝግበር ዘሎ ጻዕሪ እናዓበየ ይኸይድ ኣሎ ።

ናይ ንጉናዋል / ጎሜሮኢ ሰብኣይ ማይክል ቤል ኣካል እቲ ዕዮ እዩ ። ንሱ ኣብ ዝኽሪ ወተሃደራት ኣውስትራልያ ፡ወኪል ደቀባት ኮይኑ፡ ንኣገልግሎትን መስዋእትን እቶም ወተሃደራዊ ልብሲ ለቢሶም ይኹን ኣብ ሃገሮም ዘገልገሉ ደቀባት ኣብ ምልላይ ዝሕግዝ እዩ ።

በዚ ስራሕ እዚ ኣቢሉ፡ ንጹር ስእሊ ክወጽእ ይጅምር ኣሎ ይብል።

ክንደይ ኣቦርጂንን ቶረስ ስትሬት ኣይላንደራት ፡ ኣብ ቀዳማይ ውግእ ዓለምን ካልኣይ ውግእ ዓለምን ኣገልጊሎም?

ሚስተር ቤል ፡ "ኣብዚ እዋን እዚ ፡ ኣብ ቀዳማይ ውግእ ዓለም ልዕሊ 1200 ደቂ ኣቦርጂን ተኸቲቦም ወይ ኪኽተቡ ፈቲኖም እዮም ፣ ኣብ ካልኣይ ውግእ ዓለም ከኣ ኣስታት 6,500 ሰብኡት ከም ዘለዉ ጌርና ኢና እንሓስብ" በለ ።

Indigenous Australians Honoured On Anzac Day At Coloured Diggers March
ንመዓልቲ ANZAC ምርዳእ ማለት ነቲ ናይ ደቀባት ኣበርክቶን ዘጋጠሞም ብድሆታትን ኣፍልጦ ምሃብ ማለት እዩ ። Credit: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

እዚ ቝጽርታት እዚ ፡ ዝያዳ መዝገብ ምስ ተቐልዐ እናዓበየ እዩ ዝኸይድ ዘሎ ።

በዓል ዝኽሪ ኲናት፡ ቍጽሪ እቶም ኣቦርጅናውያን ምስ ፍሉጣት ዝዀኑ ህዝቢ እተተሓሓዘ ሚስጢራት ይመሚ ኣሎ ።

ብዙሕ ዕንቅፋታት እኳ እንተ ኣጋጠሞ ፡እቲ ቝጽሪ ኣገዳሲ እዩ ።

እቲ ኣብ ዉትህድድርና ምኽታብ ወይ ክትክተብ ምፍታን ፡ ልክዕ ኸምቶም ካብ ደቀባት ዘይዀኑ ኣሕዋቶምን ኣሓቶምን መጠን ፡ ተመሳስሊ እዩ ።
Michael Bell

ቀዳሞት ህዝብታት ኣውስትራልያውያን ናብ ውትህድርና ክኣትዉ ኣብ ዝፍትኑሉ ዝነበሩ እዋን ፡ እንታይ ዕንቅፋታት እዩ ኣጋጢምዎም ?

ኣቦርጅናውያን ኣብ ሰራዊት ንኺኣትዉ ኣብ ዝገበርዎ ጻዕሪ ፡ እገዳታት ኣጋጢምዎም እዩ ። እዞም ቀይድታት እዚኦም ኣብ ብዙሕ ደረጃታት እዮም ዝርከቡ ።

ኣቦርጅናውያን ኣብ መላእ እታ ሃገር ንዝገብርዎ ምንቅስቓስ ደረት ነይርዎ እዩ።

ከም ምሉእ ኣውስትራሊያዊ ዜጋታት ተቐባልነት ኣይረኸቡን ፤ ኣብ ገለ ኣጋጣሚታት ድማ ክሳብ ከም ሰባት ተቐባልነት'ውን ኣይረኽቡን ዝነበሩ ።

ወተሃደራዊ ፖሊሲታት ድማ መብዛሕትኡ ግዜ ነቶም ናይ ኤውሮጳ ውርሻ ዘይብሎም የግልሎም ነበረ ።

እዚ ብሓፈሻ ነቶም ኣብ ዉትህድርና ኸገልግሉ ዝደልዩ ዓበይቲ ዕንቅፋታት ፈጢሩሎም እዩ ።

እዚ ቀይድታት እዚ ናሃለወ እውን ፡ ብዙሓት ሰባት ንኺሓትቱ ኣዝዮም እዮም ዝጽዕሩ ነይሮም ። ሓደ ካብዚኦም ካብ ኲንስላንድ ክሳብ ናብ ኣልበሪብምጉዓዝ ዝተኸትበ ከም ዝነበረ ሚስተር ቤል ይገልጽ ።

"ኣብ መገዱ ፡ ሓሙሽተ ሳዕ ኽኽተብ ፈቲኑ፣ ኣብ መወዳታ እተ ሰለጦ'ኳ እቲ ዘሕዝን ፡ ተኸቲቡ በታ ተጻዒኑላ ዝነበረ ናብ ዓውዲ ውግእ እትኸይድ ዝነበረት መርከብ ከሎ ብምሕማሙ ኣብ ዉግእ ኣትዩ ከገልግል ኣይከኣለን ። ስለዚ ኣቦርጂን ብምዃኖም ዝተነጽጉ ናትና ሰባት ተወፋይነትን መመሊስካ ክትክተብ ብምፍታን እዩ ተገይሩ። "ይብል ።

ከምዚ ዝኣመሰለ ዛንታታት ንቘራጽነት: ተጻዋርነት: ከምኡውን ነታ ሃገር ማዕረ መሰል ኣብ ዘይሃበትሉ እዋን እውን እንተዀነ ንኸተገልግል ሓያል ባህጊ ከም ዘሎካ ዘርኢ እዩ ።

Aboriginal And Torres Straight Islander Veterans
ኣብ ሲድኒ ኣብ ዓመታዊ ናይ ኣንዛክ ዝኽሪ ናይ ዝኽሪ ዕንባባ እናተቐመጠ ። Credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

ኣቦርጅናውያን ካብ ውግእ ናብ ዓዶም ምስ ተመልሱ ፡ እንታይ ኣጋጠሞም ?

ንብዙሓት ኣቦርጅናውያን ፡ መስዋእቶም ማዕርነት ከምቶም ደቀባት ዘይኮኑ ኣይኮነን ተራእዩ።

ናብቲ ብኣድልዎን ቀይዲ ዘለዎ ሕግታትን ዝሳቐ ዝነበረ ማሕበረሰቦም እዮም ተመሊሶም ።

ሚስተር ቤል ፡ "እቶም ናትና ሰባት ኣብ ዓዶም ኣብቲ ከይ ኣትዉ ተኸልኪሎም እናሃለዉ ኣብ ዘይግብኦም ናይ ወጻኢ ውግእ ንመሰል እዮም ተቓሊሶም" በለ ። "ናብ ሓደ ማዕርነት ዘይረኸበን ኣብ መከራ ዘሎ ሕብረተሰብ እንተ ተመሊሶም ድማ ፡ ናብ ምግላል ፡ ሕጋዊ ኣፍልጦ ዘይምህላው ፡ ዋንነት መሬት ፡ ማዕረ ደሞዝ ፡ ንደቅና ናይ ምምሕዳር ቀይዲ ፡ ናይ ስርቂ ወለዶ ፡ ዘለዎ እዮም ተመሊሶም ።"

ገሊኦም ኣቦርጅናውያን ፡ ጥቕሚ ክረክቡ ክኢሎም እኳ እንተ ነበሩ ፡ ብዙሓት ግና ኣይረኸቡን ፣ ብ ማሕበራውን ፖለቲካውን ቀይድታት ደገፍ ክረኽቡ ኣይከኣሉን ።

ንደቀባት ምስ ካልእ ሓርበኛታት ዉግ እውን ከይተረፈ ርክብ ምግባር ኣጸጋሚ ክኸውን ይኽእል እዩ ።

መብዛሕትኡ ግዜ እቶም ዝምለሱ ወተሃደራት ፡ ምስ ከም RSL ክለባት ዝኣመሰላ ንወተሃደራት ዝድግፋን ከም በዓል ኣንዛክ ዝኣመሰሉ ጽምብላት ሓርበኛትኣ ዝድግፋን ማሕበረሰባዊ ትካላት ክጽንበሩ ይተባብዑ ነበሩ ።

ብዙሓት ካብዘን ክለባት ግን ፍቓድ ዘለዎም ኣዳራሻት ኮይኖም፡ ኣቦርጅናውያን ድማ ናብዚ ቦታታት ንኸይኣትዉ ዝቕየዱሉ እዋን ነይሩ እዩ ።

ካብ ደገፍን ምትእስሳርን ድማ ብደይ መደይ መገዲ ተገሊሎም እዮም ።

ኣውስትራሊያ ነቲ ናይ ኣቦርጂናልን ቶረስ ስትሬት ኣይላንደራት ወተሃደራዊ ኣገልግሎት ሎሚ ከመይ እያ ኣፍልጦ ትህቦ?

ኣብዚ ቀረባ ዓሰርተታት ዓመታት ፡ በዓል ዝኽሪ ውግእ ኣውስትራልያ ፡ ንኣገልግሎታት ኣቦርጂናልን ቶረስ ስትራት ኣይላንደርስን ኣብ ምቕላዕን ኣብ ምክፋልን ዝያዳ ግደ ነይርዎ እዩ ።

ሚስተር ቤል ፡ "ዛንታታትና ኣብ ኵሉ ጋለሪታትና ብማዕረን ብመጠንን ይካፈል ኣሎ" በለ ። "ኣብ ኵሉ እቲ እንህቦ ኣገልግሎት ፡ ኣብ ኵሉ ጋለሪታት ኣሳእልን ኣብ ኵሉ እቲ ዛንታታትን ፡ ኣብ ኵሉ ውክልናን ኣሎ ።"

ኣብ በዓል ዝኽሪ ኣውስትራልያ ፡ናይ ጸሊም ኵርናዕ የለን ። እቲ ዛንታ ፡ ከምቲ ንኹሉ ሓርበኛ ክንገብሮ ዝሓተተና ፡ ኣብ ኵሉ ብማዕረ እዩ ዝዝረብ ።
Michael Bell

"ኣብቲ ዩኒፎርም ከም ቀጠልያ ፡ ሰማያዊ ወይ ሓሙኽሽታይ ንሰራዊት ፡ ሓይሊ ኣየርን ሓይሊ ባሕርን ዝኣመሰለ ኣገልግሎት ሕብሪ ጥራይ እዮም ክርእዩ ዝኽእሉ ነይሮም ።"

እዚ ኣቀራርባ እዚ ፡ ብዙሓት ደቂ ኣቦርጅናውያን ፡ ከም ወተሃደራት ኰይኖም ኣብ ጐድኒ ካልኦት ኰይኖም ብምግልጋል ንገዛእ ርእሶም ከም ዝረኣይዋ ዘርኢ እዩ ።

እዚ ከምዚ ኢሉ ከሎ ፡ እቲ ንነዊኅ እዋን ተሓቢኡ ዝጸንሐ ዛንታታት እንደገና ተቐልቂሉ ፡ ንስድራ ቤታትን ሕብረተሰባትን ይካፍል ኣሎ ።

"ኣብ" ቲ እንእከበሉ ቦታ ፡ ስእሊ ናይ ኣቦርጂናውያን ጥራይ እንፈልጠሉ ኣጋጣሚ ፡ ስድራ ቤት እውን ኣይረኣይዎን ። ኣብ ክንዳኡ ብ ኣገልግሎቱ ኣፍልጦ ምእንቲ ክንህቦም ፡ ከምኡ ክንገብር ንኽእል ኢና ፣ እዚ ንዓይ ኣዝዩ ባህ ዘብልን ፍሉይን እዩ ፣ ነቶም ነዚ ፍልጠትን ሓበሬታን እዚ ዝፈልጡ ስድራ ቤታት ድማ ፡ ኣብቲ ብዛዕባ ኣገልግሎት ኣቦርጂን ብኣወንታ ኽንጠቅስ እንጽዕረሉ ዘለና ትካል ፡ ነዚ ሓበሬታ እዚ ነካፍሎም ኣለና ። "

ንስድራ ቤታት ፡ እዚ ኣጋጣሚታት እዚ ሓያል ክኸውን ይኽእል እዩ ፡ ምስ ታሪኽ ፡ መንነትን ፍቑራትን እውን ክዛመድ ይኽእል እዩ ።

Aboriginal And Torres Straight Islander Veterans
እቲ ኣብ ሲድኒ ዝግበር ዓመታዊ (ANZAC coloured) ናይ ኣንዛክ ሕብራዊ ጽምብል ዝወደቑ ወተሃደራት ፡ ነቲ ናይ ኦርጂናውያንን ቶረስ ስትሬት ኣይላንደራት ኣበርክቶ ኣፍልጦ ይህብ ። Credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

ኣብዚ መዓልቲ ኣንዛክ ብዛዕባታሪኽ ኣቦርጂናውያንን ቶረስ ስትሬት ኣይስላንደርን እንታይ ክትፈልጥ'ዩ ዘሎካ ?

ንመዓልቲ ANZAC ምርዳእ ማለት ነቲ ህዝብታት ኣቦርጂንን ቶረስ ስትሪት ኣይላንደር ዝገበርዎ ኣበርክቶን ዘጋጠሞም ብድሆታትን ኣፍልጦ ምሃብ ማለት እዩ ።

ሚስተር ቤል ፡ "ብዛዕባ ምሉእን ኩሎምን ታሪኽ ኣውስትራልያን ን ብዛዕባ እዚ ሎሚ ዘሎ ኩነታትን እዩ ። እዚ ብዛዕባ እቶም ቅድሚ ሕጂ ዝነበሩ ዘይርኣዩ ህዝቢ ኣይኰነን ። ኣብ ቀዳማይ ውግእ ዓለም ዝነበሩ ሰባት ፡ ዉርሳኦም ክሓብኡ ስለ ዘለዎም ፡ ኸነተባብዖምን ምሉእ ታሪኽ ኣውስትራልያ ኽንርእን ደኣ እምበር ፡ ከምቲ ቀደም ንዝነበረና ኣፍልጦ ብዘይህብ ስርዓታት እተጻሕፈ ክኸውን ኣይደልን ። "

መዓልቲ ኣንዛክ ነቶም ኣብ ውግእን ግጭትን ዘገልገሉ ከምኡውን ንብዙሓት ኣውስትራሊያዊያን እትዝክረሉ እዋን እዩ ።

እዚ ዛንታታት እዚ ኣብ ኵሉ እናተገልጸ ምስ ከደ ፡ ብዛዕባ ሕሉፍ ታሪኽ ኣውስትራልያን ህሉው ኵነታትን ምሉእ ስእሊ ንኺሕዝ ይሕግዝ ።

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SBS acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country and their connections and continuous care for the skies, lands and waterways across Australia.

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You're listening to Australia Explained, an SBS audio podcast helping you navigate life in Australia.

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Hello, I'm Lowanna Grant, executive producer of NITV Radio. I'll be your host for this special episode of the Australia Explained. ANZAC Day is one of Australia's most important national days. Each year people gather to remember those who served in wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping missions. But understanding ANZAC Day can take time, especially if you're new in Australia.

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Whose stories are we remembering and are there stories we don't always hear? In this episode, we explore an important part of Australia's history that has often been overlooked, the service of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

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Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people served in Australia's armed forces, including during the 1st and 2nd World Wars, often alongside non-Indigenous Australians, even when they were officially barred from enlisting. Today there is a growing effort to ensure these stories are recognised and remembered. Ngunnawal/Gomeroi man Michael Bell is part of that work as Indigenous liaison officer at the Australian War Memorial.

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He helps identify and recognise the service and sacrifice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, both those who served in uniform and those who supported the war effort on home soil. Through this work, a clearer picture is beginning to emerge.

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We currently have just over 1200 Aboriginal men enlisted or attempted to enlist in the First World War, and approximately we're estimating it's going to be about 6500 men in

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the Second World War. It's an ongoing project and the numbers change weekly as we identify and add and include men on our list.

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These numbers continue to grow as more records are uncovered, but one question often asked is how do these figures compare to non-Indigenous Australians?

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We've statistically viewed the numbers of Aboriginal attestations compared to known populations, and the rates of enlistments or attestations

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are the same to their non-Indigenous brothers and sisters.

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In other words, despite facing significant barriers, Aboriginal people enlisted at similar rates to non-Indigenous Australians. So what were those barriers? Michael Bell explains that restrictions existed at multiple levels. Aboriginal people faced limits on their movement across the country. They were not recognised as full Australian citizens and in some cases, not even recognised as people under the law.

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And military policies often excluded those without European heritage. Together these created major obstacles for those wanting to serve. But even with these restrictions, many people went to extraordinary lengths to enlist.

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Oh, we have an Aboriginal man that's walked from Queensland all the way down to Albury, and on his way, he's tried to enlist 5 times, ultimately to get in and unfortunately didn't get to serve because he passed away of illness on the ship

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on the way over to the battlefield, so it's the dedication and re-enlistment of our men where they've been rejected for being Aboriginal, but go back and try again.

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Stories like this show determination, resilience, and a strong desire to serve country even when that country did not offer equal rights. But what happened after these servicemen returned home? For many Aboriginal veterans, the end of the war did not mean equality.

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They returned to a society where discrimination and restrictive laws were still part of everyday life.

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Our men were fighting for rights in a foreign war that they weren't entitled to in their home countries.

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And to come home to a desperately unequal society and to go back into segregation, the lack of legal acknowledgement, the restrictions on ownership of land, equal wages, the restriction of managing our children, the Stolen Generations were in full swing.

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Some Aboriginal veterans were able to access benefits, but many did not, with broader social and political restrictions limiting support.

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Even connecting with other veterans could be difficult. Returned soldiers were often encouraged to join RSL clubs, community organisations that support veterans and organise events like ANZAC Day ceremonies. But many of these clubs were licenced venues, meaning alcohol was served.

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Because Aboriginal people were often restricted from entering these spaces, they were effectively excluded from both support and connection. Today, there is growing recognition of this history.

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In recent decades, the Australian War Memorial has taken a more active role in uncovering and sharing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service. Mr Bell explains.

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Our stories are shared equally and proportionately throughout all of our galleries. We have Indigenous content in all the services, all of the galleries, all of the stories, all of our representations. There is no Black corner at the Australian War Memorial. What we do is tell the story equally throughout.

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The veterans have asked us to do in the uniform, they could only see themselves as the colour of their service, such as the green, the blue, or the grey for army, air force, and navy.

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This approach reflects how many Aboriginal servicemen saw themselves as soldiers first, serving alongside others. At the same time, long hidden stories are now being rediscovered and shared with families and communities.

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On the occasion where we have the only known

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of an Aboriginal man in our collection and the family haven't seen it or didn't know what their great grandfather or great uncle looked like, we can provide that to them on behalf of recognition of his service and recognition of his contribution, and that's really, really touching and special for me to be able to share that with the families and know that that knowledge and information is held in an institution where we're positively trying to include the previously or lesser known story about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service.

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For families, these moments can be powerful, helping to reconnect with history, identity, and loved ones. So this ANZAC Day, what should you, especially if you're new to Australia, keep in mind?

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It's about the full and total history of Australia and how it is today, not the unseen nation that we have been in previous years and for the First World War guys, you know, having to hide their heritage, where we want to be able to encourage them

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to see the full history of Australia as it is, not as it was written by previous systems that excluded our acknowledgement.

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ANZAC Day is a time to remember those who served in wars and conflicts, and for many Australians, it's a moment to come together to honour history. Understanding ANZAC Day means understanding the full story of Australia.

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That includes recognising both the contributions and the challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. As these stories become more widely shared, they help paint a fuller picture of Australia's past and its present.

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Thank you for listening to this episode of Australia Explained. The interview was conducted by Rachael Knowles, sound edit by Melissa Compagnoni, and the Australia Explained managing editor is Roza Germian, and I'm Lowanna Grant. Until next time.

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This was an SBS audio podcast. For more Australia Explained stories, visit SBS.com.au/Australiaexplained.

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Subscribe or follow the Australia Explained podcast for more valuable information and tips about settling into your new life in Australia. Do you have any questions or topic ideas? Send us an email to australiaexplained@sbs.com.au.

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