Oral History and Australian Family Life

Professor Alistair Thomson will outline the opportunities and the challenges posed by oral history interviews as evidence for the history of Australian family life over the past century.

Alistair will show how oral history interviews can add colour and nuance to the writing of your family history to illuminate a more complex representation of the life and times of your forebears. Using examples from his own family history, from the history of postwar migration, and from his most recent history of family life and fathering, he will explore how oral histories illuminate the diverse experiences of Australian families and how family roles and relationships have, or have not, changed over the time.

Professor Alistair Thomson is a world leader in oral history theory and method. He is Emeritus Professor of History at Monash University in Australia and was previously Professor of Oral History at the University of Sussex in England. He has served as President of Oral History Australia and of the International Oral History Association. Al’s history books based on oral history interviews include: ‘Anzac Memories: Living with the Legend’ (1994 and 2013), ‘Ten Pound Poms: Australia’s Invisible Migrants’ (2005, with Jim Hammerton), ‘Moving Stories: an intimate history of four women across two countries’ (2011), ‘Australian Lives: An Intimate History’ (2017, with Anisa Puri), and in 2025, ‘Fathering: An Australian History’ (with John Murphy, Kate Murphy and Johnny Bell).

Attend Talking History in person at the Eureka Centre (no booking required).

Past lectures can be viewed on YouTube by clicking this link.

Image: The Thomson Family at their Gippsland farm, 1927.  Photograph provided by Professor Alistair Thomson.