Most Australians value First Nations histories

UNSW research has found a wide gap between support for learning First Nations histories and how much Australians think they know about them. The study found 84% of Australians believe knowing First Nations histories is important, but only 45% rate their knowledge as fairly high or very high.

According to UNSW academics Heidi Norman and Anne Maree Payne, that gap became clear during the 2023 Voice referendum. They argue the vote exposed a disconnect between decades of historical scholarship on dispossession and survival and what much of the public understands.

Norman, a professor at UNSW, spoke about the findings at the university’s First Nations Research Showcase during the 2026 Diversity Festival. She said historians have documented Aboriginal dispossession and survival, yet that knowledge is still not reaching most Australians.

“Research participants reported that education remains inconsistent, with many Australians reporting that they know little about Aboriginal history,” Professor Heidi Norman said.

Media and experience outweigh school learning

Payne found formal education plays a smaller role than other sources. Only 14% of Australians name school education or research as their main source of information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Meanwhile, 37% cite mainstream media and 32% cite personal experience.

Payne is a senior research fellow in the Indigenous Land and Justice Research Group in UNSW’s School of Humanities and Languages, within the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture. Norman is a researcher in Aboriginal political history and a descendant of the Gomeroi people from northwestern New South Wales.

“There is a real need for resources that are accessible and promoted well such as reading lists, websites and other reliable sources of information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories,” Payne said.

She also pointed to workplace events with First Nations presenters as another way people can learn directly from First Nations communities. That recommendation comes as UNSW promotes the showcase as a place for public discussion and professional connection.

The First Nations Research Showcase is set for Friday 25 September at UNSW’s Kensington campus. The event forms part of the 2026 Diversity Festival and will feature researchers from the Centre for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, the Indigenous Land and Justice Research Group, and Nura Gili.

Those groups will deliver six 10-minute lightning presentations on current First Nations-led research. UNSW says the session is designed to create opportunities for connection and collaboration, and attendees will be able to ask questions.

Norman and Payne are both scheduled to speak at the event. UNSW did not give sample size details for the research in the material provided.