Deakin University Warrnambool to host Pacific History Association conference

The Warrnambool campus will host the Pacific History Association's 25th Biennial Conference from October 31 to November 4, 2023.

The conference theme is Tracking the Kooyang: Truth Telling in the History of Oceania, with a focus on the Pacific Ocean.

Campus director Alister McCosh said it was the first international conference the Warrnambool campus had hosted and it was exciting for Deakin and the region.

Mr McCosh said Deakin University put in a bid to host the conference and our location and rich indigenous history, including World Heritage Listed Budj Bim, helped to attract the conference to the south-west.

He said it was a great opportunity to showcase the region, with guests visiting Budj Bim, the Great Ocean Road and Tower Hill.

He said the 150 guests from 15 nations or territories, including Europe, the US and Pacific nations including Papua New Guinea and Fiji, would stay at city accommodation providers and stay on to tour the south-west, providing an economic boost to the region.

The conference is held every two years in locations including Fiji, Guam, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Hawaii and the UK. The last time Australia hosted it was in 2000 in Canberra.

About 150 academics, artists, researchers and performers will present their work which includes formal presentations and casual opportunities to share knowledge, ideas and wisdom.

Topics include the decolonisation of the Pacific, the maintaining of cultural knowledge through colonialism, photographs of the Pacific, music and performance, the Pacific at war, Australia and Papua New Guinea and contemporary Pacific issues.

Mr McCosh said Deakin was very fortunate the Warrnambool Rotary Club and Warrnambool City Council had provided funding to help Deakin University sponsor four delegates from Pacific nation communities enabling them to attend the international event.

Keynote speakers include:

Deakin University Professor Richard Frankland, a senior Gunditjmara elder, film maker, artist, musician and activist.

Dr Bal Kama, an emerging and talented Papua New Guinean lawyer and commentator.

Eminent New Zealand historian Associate Professor Jacqueline Leckie, who will be presenting the Brij Lal Memorial Lecture, honouring the late Professor Brij Lal, a prominent Fijian historian.

Members of the public can attend. Daily tickets are $150 or $75 for concession card holders and students. Purchase tickets online via the conference website or limited tickets at the door.

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