WHAT'S ON

A public lecture by Professor Alistair Thomson exploring how oral histories illuminate the diverse experiences of Australian families.

Learn how to use Trove, Australia’s free digital archive, to uncover stories, events and moments that shaped your family.

Kick off the Ballarat Heritage Festival with local musicians Hap Hayward, Freya Josephine Hollick, and Phil and Trudy Edgeley, as they present a rollicking in-the-round performance of unsung folk songs from the Victorian Goldfields.

Historian Jacqui Sanders and heritage expert Trevor Budge AM reveal the hidden lives of women and children on the Victorian Goldfields. They will share stories of mothers and children who shaped goldfields society and whose memories remain embedded in our historical cultural landscapes. Complimentary afternoon tea to follow.

A two-hour public workshop with Jonathan Butler that will teach you how to narrate the story of your family history.

A public lecture by author Lucy Sussex about the gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer, Mary Fortune, and her career-criminal son.

Explore strategies for tracing your family history when adoption is part of the story.

A public lecture by Professor Keir Reeves about the long-term impacts of gold on the development of nineteenth-century Victoria.

Celebrate Torres Strait Island culture this NAIDOC Week with a book reading by author Bernard Namok Jnr and interactive singing with Deb Lowah Clark. Ages 4-12 years.