Australian South Sea Islander Recognition Day Northern Territory

30/03/2026

04/03/2026

Thanks very much to all our new followers. I hope to share some good news about research into ASSI recognition soon.

Queensland University of Technology has announced a research project focused on community-led approaches to teaching Australian South Sea Islander history in Australian schools.

The project is part of an ARC Discovery Indigenous grant and is led by Dr Francis Bobongie-Harris. It will work with Australian South Sea Islander communities to document histories and develop teaching resources so that ASSI history is more accurately represented in school curriculum.

The research will examine historical experiences, collect community knowledge and oral histories, and help create educational materials that reflect Australian South Sea Islander perspectives.

You can read more here:
https://www.qut.edu.au/research/study-with-us/vacation-research-experience-scheme-student-topics/vres/community-led-approaches-to-teaching-australian-south-sea-islander-history-arc-discovery-in250100029

Tankio Tumas

Based on your professional level and experience, combined with your individual needs and motivations, there are several different study formats for you to choose from to help you achieve your career goals.

05/02/2026

Shout out our newest followers! Excited to have you onboard!

07/09/2025

Who Counts as an Australian?

Government Policy Approaches to Australian South Sea Islanders (ASSI):

“Australian South Sea Islanders have always counted, but our policies have not always counted them in...”

07/09/2025

What I have learned is the when plantations were cleared In southern Queensland, Aboriginal people were decimated. South Sea people living on the plantations in dirt floor sheds and huts, found Aboriginal orphaned children in the bush. They took them in secretly as their own children. When white Australia policy came in in 1901, many South Sea people were deported back to the Islands with the Aboriginal children they adopted, and there is a descended population of Aboriginal people in Vanuatu from 120 years ago.

25/08/2025

Happy Australian South Sea Islander Recognition Day from Darwin ❤️

23/08/2025

NATIONAL RECOGNITION - 31 YEARS // On 25 August 1994, just over three decades ago, the Commonwealth Government formally recognised Australian South Sea Islanders as a distinct community and cultural group. The significance of this day is multilayered and we acknowledge this milestone, recognising that the historical discrimination of our peoples has given rise to community-wide determination, strength and resilience.

Now and always, we give recognition to the 60,000+ Islanders who were blackbirded from over 80 Pacific Islands during a period of four decades, 1863-1904. We remember the approximately 15,000 Islanders who lost their lives as a result. This remains the highest death rate of any immigrant group in Australia, ever. Their unpaid wages, today equate to tens of millions of dollars. Despite this tumultuous history, Australian South Sea Islander community members, leaders and organisations remain steadfast in the plight for representation, acknowledgement and justice.

On the 31st anniversary of the national recognition of Australian South Sea Islanders, we acknowledge our ancestors and give recognition to a resilient community that has prevailed and continues to thrive today.

References & Further Reading:

● Read the full 1992 CALL FOR RECOGNITION report online here: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2140980113/view?partId=nla.obj-2142673324

● https://blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2016/05/27/australian-south-sea-islanders-in-queensland/

● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMenhRMnd3c

●https://www.health.qld.gov.au/.../health-data-assi.pdf

● https://minorityrights.org/minorities/south-sea-islanders/

● Queensland’s Australian South Sea Islander Population Census 2021 Qld Census:https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/issues/12031/aust-south-sea-islanders-qld-census-2021.pdf
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ASSI Stories Project: www.assistories.org

06/08/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EYtZPJmHi/?mibextid=wwXIfr

✊🏾 Rest in power, Sam Neale Backo (1961–2025)

From the football field to the Native Title fight in the Federal Court, proud Warrgamay and South Sea Islander man Sam Backo fought for his people with strength and love.

His legacy lives on in the land he helped reclaim, the family he cherished and the lives he touched. Our hearts go out to his family.

Image from the AIATSIS collection: TATZ.C01.DF-D00035675.

06/08/2025

On 16 July 2025, Member for Sanderson Jinson Charls MLA acknowledged the Commonwealth’s 1994 recognition of Australian South Sea Islanders (ASSI) as a distinct cultural group and invited community members to contribute archival records, family histories, or scholarly materials to assist the Department of People, Sport and Culture (DPSC) to understand ASSI history in the NT.

We warmly thank Minister Charls for his interest and for offering to work together to develop a comprehensive and respectful narrative of ASSI presence in the Northern Territory.

By completing this survey, you consent to the collection, use, and sharing of the personal, family‐history, and archival information you provide for research and study purposes. Your responses may be shared with DPSC and used in reports, publications, or presentations.

Please follow this link to the survey

https://forms.office.com/r/KZD5cV8Czf