REMEMBERING AUSTRALIAN SERVICEWOMEN IN SOUTH EAST ASIA

Member for Ballarat Catherine King today announced funding of over $140,000 from the Albanese Government’s Saluting Their Service Commemorative Grants Program for production company Wind & Sky Productions.

The funding will finance the development of a digital exhibition and documentary marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Word War titled – Indispensable: Australian service women in east and southeast Asia 1945-1955.

Although Australian women have always contributed to war service, their stories are not often well known.

This groundbreaking project will explore the contributions of individual Australian women who served in the armed forces or had a military support role in east and southeast Asia in the aftermath of the Second World War and in the decade that followed.

It will highlight the role that Australian servicewomen played on mercy missions and with the British post-war occupation forces in Japan. It will also explore the role of Australian women in the Korean War and as part of the newly formed United Nations.

The return of Australian servicewomen post conflict, and the arrival of foreign women married to Australian servicemen transformed the social fabric of Australia. This project will also examine the new perspectives they brought to our nation.   

The project has strong support from the Returned Nurses RSL Victoria sub-branch, the Red Cross Australia archives and a number of eminent researchers and experts. The producers will also partner with volunteer historians at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria to research the subject.

The ongoing Saluting their Service Commemorative Grants Program delivers community grants up to $10,000 and major grants up to $150,000.

Indispensible: Australian service women in east and southeast Asia 1945-1955 is one of 91 projects or community organisations across the country sharing in more than $1.68 million under this round of funding.

To find out more or apply visit the Saluting Their Service Grants Program website.

Quotes attributable to Member for Ballarat Catherine King

"Women’s stories are often relegated to the background despite their significant contribution to our nation in times of conflict. This innovative project makes their stories accessible and ensures they are remembered for decades to come.”

“Congratulations to Lucinda, Jary and everyone involved in this project, and thank you for preserving these important stories that helped to shape our nation.”  

Quotes attributable to Wind & Sky Productions Producer Lucinda Horrocks

“This funding enables us to tell this little-known Australian story and we are so excited to have this opportunity. Plus, we get to explore the fascinating experiences of women. I can’t wait to get started!  

“Projects like this are special because of the organisations we collaborate with in our storytelling. With ‘Indispensable’ I’m greatly looking forward to working internationally through Red Cross networks in Korea, Japan and Britain.”

Quotes attributable to Wind & Sky Productions Producer Jary Nemo

“We are very much looking forward to tackling this series of stories.  The time period has had little focus over the years, bookended and overshadowed as it is between the Second World War and Vietnam conflicts. This is an opportunity to expand on a period of rapid political and cultural change in Australia and its close neighbours.”