The Victorian Community History Awards were announced on 29 October 2026 including the Oral History Award, which was was co-sponsored by Oral History Victoria. See all winners at: https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/victorian-community-history-awards/2026-victorian-community-history-awards-winners/.
The winner of the 2026 Oral History Award was Dr Sophie Couchman’s Chinese Australian Whispers, a compelling, timely and original example of community history.
Through discussions between historian Sophie Couchman and family historians exploring their Chinese Australian heritage, this six-episode podcast brings archival recordings into conversation with contemporary perspectives. Family historians were invited to choose an oral history interview recorded over a decade earlier and reflect on how the stories resonated with their own family research journeys. In doing so, the podcast embodies the spirit of the Awards and their emphasis on community, demonstrating how historical inquiry might be a collaborative endeavour generating new meanings over time and adding depth to both personal and collective histories.
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In international news
At the recent Oral History Association (USA) conference in Portland, Oregon, the book prize went to an entry from Victoria, Australia. See the citation:
Fathering: An Australian History
Alistair Thomson, John Murphy, Kate Murphy and Johnny Bell, with Jill Barnard, Fathering: An Australian History (Melbourne University Press, 2025).
The Book Award committee has chosen Fathering: An Australian History by Alistair Thomson, John Murphy, Kate Murphy and Johnny Bell and Jill Barnard as a co-winner of the 2026 OHA Book Award for best book in the field of oral history. Utilizing an impressive array of oral history interviews, the authors trace how the act of fathering in Australia has changed over a century. In doing so, they innovatively address a broad topic, making claims about generational cohorts, while also paying careful attention to how gender, class, race, colonialism, and migration shape fathering.