Family History Month 2026

Awards | Prizes | Guest Speakers

Closing Ceremony: 31 August 2026
5PM AEST, Online

HerStory: Finding the Women in Your Family History

Researching women in family history often requires looking beyond the obvious records. Using one woman’s life as a case study, Fiona Brooker demonstrates how electoral rolls, newspapers, church registers, cemetery records, probate files, local history collections and other sources can be combined to uncover the lives of mothers, daughters, wives and sisters. Along the way, participants will discover practical research strategies that can be applied to their own family history, helping bring the women in their family tree out of the shadows and into the centre of the story.

Fiona Brooker is a New Zealand–based professional genealogist and founder of Memories in Time. She helps individuals and families research their ancestry, interpret DNA results, and preserve their discoveries for future generations. Fiona regularly presents practical sessions on genealogy
research, DNA analysis, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Opening Ceremony: 1 August 2026

Diaspora: the Greek Migrant Experience

Did you know that the word ‘diaspora’ is a Greek word meaning ‘dispersion’? 5 million Greeks are estimated to live in countries outside of Greece, and in the years after the Second World War, Australia became home to more than 350,000 Greek migrants in search of a better future. Join us to explore migrant selection documents, arrival records, and alien registration papers from the national archival collection that document the Greek migrant experience.

Eve Terry is Manager of Public Engagement for the National Archives of Australia, Queensland. Eve’s experiences as a second-generation Greek Australian, have led to her choice of career and her passion for connecting people to their heritage through Australian Government records.