Academic Activism and Armenian Genocide Recognition in Australia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51442/ijags.0071Keywords:
Armenian Genocide, recognition, Australia, academia, activismAbstract
This article draws on the author’s firsthand experience of lobbying the Australian federal government to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The article explores the history of Armenian Genocide recognition in Australia and the issues surrounding such recognition. It analyzes the geopolitical and historical issues that seem to present a barrier to the Australian federal government recognizing the Armenian Genocide, such as the specifics of Australia’s relationship with Turkey, which date back to World War I and the Gallipoli campaign of 1915. The significance of Gallipoli in Australian military history and culture and how it impacts Australian recognition of the Armenian Genocide will be examined. The article also discusses the work being done to overcome these barriers through the “Joint Justice Initiative” that the author participates in. This paper highlights how academic research and scholarship contribute to this work, situating this advocacy in the realm of academic-activism, demonstrating that academia is a crucial and active participant in activism that seeks to bring about social and political change.
References
“About the Responsibility to Protect.” the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, accessed 24 November 2025. https://www.un.org/en/genocide-prevention/responsibility-protect/about.
“Albanese Government to Help Deliver National Holocaust Education Centers for Future Generations of Australians.” Prime Minister of Australia, 27 January 2025. https://www.pm.gov.au/media/albanese-government-help-deliver-national-holocaust-education-centres-future-generations.
Albanese, Anthony, “International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2023 (Livestream),” Melbourne Holocaust Museum, 30 January 2023, 01:06:56, https://mhm.org.au/event/international-holocaust-remembrance-day-2023/
Altman, Dennis. “Academia Versus Activism.” In The Oxford Handbook of Global LGBT and Sexual Diversity Politics, edited by Michael J. Bosia, Momin Rahman and Sandra M. McEvoy, 450-462. Oxford University Press, 2019.
“Armenian Genocide Commemoration.” Parliament of New South Wales, Archived 17 April 1997. https://www.armenian-genocide.org/Affirmation.75/current_category.13/affirmation_detail.html.
Armenian National Committee of Australia. “Genocide denied = Genocide repeated Today, marks 100 days of the #ArtsakhBlockade orchestrated by Azerbaijan and President of the International…” Facebook, 21 March 2023. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DvbWZTiZD/.
Armenian National Committee of Australia, “International Association of Genocide Scholars President Melanie O’brien Headlines Inaugural Joint Justice Initiative Advocacy Week.” 20 March 2023. https://www.anc.org.au/news/Media-Releases/International-Association-of-Genocide-Scholars-President-Melanie-OBrien-Headlines-Inaugural-Joint-Justice-Initiative-Advocacy-Week.
Armenian National Committee of Australia. “Joint Justice Initiative Hosts 100th Commemoration of the Smyrna Catastrophe in Australian Federal Parliament,” 22 March 2023. https://www.anc.org.au/news/Media-Releases/Joint-Justice-Initiative-Hosts-100th-Commemoration-of-the-Smyrna-Catastrophe-in-Australian-Federal-Parliament.
Armenian National Committee of Australia. “Armenian Genocide Recognition and Education in the News in Australia,” Armenian Weekly, 20 February 2024. https://armenianweekly.com/2024/02/20/armenian-genocide-recognition-and-education-in-the-news-in-australia/. Armenian National Committee of Australia, “Armenian-Australians Slam Prime Ministerial Candidates on Cowardly Armenian Genocide Statement Ahead of 2025 Election.” 25 April 2025. https://www.anc.org.au/news/Media-Releases/Armenian-Australians-Slam-Prime-Ministerial-Candidates-on-Cowardly-Armenian-Genocide-Statements-Ahead-of-2025-Federal-Election.
Armenian National Committee of Australia, “Joint Justice Initiative,” accessed 24 November 2025. https://www.anc.org.au/joint-justice-initiative.
Armoudian, Maria, and Katherine Smits. “How Soon We Forget: National Myth-Making and Recognition of the Armenian Genocide.” Journal of Genocide Research 27, no. 1 (2025): 91-112. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623528.2023.2268483.
Askins, Kye. “‘That’s Just What I Do’: Placing Emotion in Academic Activism.” Emotion, Space and Society 2, no. 1 (2009): 4-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. emospa.2009.03.005.
Auron, Yair. The Banality of Denial: Israel and the Armenian Genocide. Routledge, 2003.
“Australian PM Denounces Erdogan for ‘Reckless’ NZ Attack Comments.” AlJazeera, 20 March 2019. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/3/20/australian-pm-denounces-erdogan-for-reckless-nz-attack-comments.
Avedian, Vahagn. “State Identity, Continuity, and Responsibility: The Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey and the Armenian Genocide.” European Journal of International Law 23, no. 3 (2012): 797-820. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chs056.
Avedian, Vahagn. Knowledge and Acknowledgement in the Politics of Memory of the Armenian Genocide. Abingdon: Routledge, 2018.
Babkenian, Vicken, and Peter Stanley. Armenia, Australia and the Great War. NewSouth Publishing, 2016.
Baird, Marian. “The Academic as Activist: Managing Tension and Creating Impact.” Community, Work and Family 23, no. 5 (2020): 612-621. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803 .2020.1807915.
Balint, Jennifer. “Too Near and Too Far: Australia’s Reluctance to Name and Prosecute Genocide.” In Genocide Perspectives V: A Global Crime, Australian Voices, edited by Nikki Marczak and Kirril Shields, 51-67. UTS ePress, 2017. http://dx.doi. org/10.5130/978-0-9945039-7-8.
Barnett, Katy. “Citation as a Measure of ‘Impact’: Female Legal Academics at a Disadvantage?” Alternative Law Journal 44, no. 4 (2019): 267-274.
Barta, Tony. “After the Holocaust: Consciousness of Genocide in Australia.” Australian Journal of Politics and History 31, no. 1 (1985): 154-161. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1467-8497.1985.tb01330.x.
Behrens, Paul. “Genocide Denial and the Law: A Critical Appraisal.” Buffalo Human Rights Law Review. 21 (2014-2015): 27-52.
Berg, Maggie, and Barbara K. Seeber. The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy. University of Toronto Press, 2016.
Bilali, Rezarta, Yeshim Iqbal and Samuel Freel. “Understanding and Counteracting Genocide Denial.” In Confronting Humanity at Its Worst: Social Psychological Perspectives on Genocide, edited by Leonard S. Newman, 284-311. Oxford University Press, 2020.
Bonnell, Andrew G. “Tide or Tsunami? The Impact of Metrics on Scholarly Research.” Australian Universities Review 58, no. 1 (2016): 54-61.
Boykoff, Jules. “Riding the Lines: Academia, Public Intellectual Work, and Scholar- Activism.” Sociology of Sport Journal 35, no. 2 (2018): 81-88. https://doi.org/10.1123/ ssj.2018-0017.
Calley, Emma. “What Visiting Gallipoli Meant to Me, a Young Aussie Traveller,” 25 December 2018. https://www.intrepidtravel.com/adventures/travel-to-gallipoli-as-a-young-australian/.
Cixous, Hélène. “Coming to Writing” and Other Essays. Translated by Deborah Jenson, Sarah Cornell, Ann Liddle, and Susan Sellers. Harvard University Press, 1991.
Cohen, Stanley. States of Denial: Knowing About Atrocities and Suffering. Cambridge: Polity, 2001.
Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900. https://www.aph.gov.au/constitution.
Cox, John, Amal Khoury, and Sarah Minslow. Denial: the Final Stage of Genocide? Routledge, 2022.
Daniele, Luigi. “Disputing the Indisputable: Genocide Denial and Freedom of Expression in Perincek v. Switzerland.” Nottingham Law Journal 25 (2016): 141-51.
Davidson, Helen. “Gallipoli Service: O’Farrell Attacks Turkish Threat to Bar NSW MPs.” The Guardian, 22 August 2013. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/22/gallipoli-ofarrell-turkish-bar-mps.
Demirdjian, Alexis, ed. The Armenian Genocide Legacy. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Department of Foreign Affairs. “Türkiye Country Brief,” accessed 24 November 2025. https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/t%C3%BCrkiye/t%C3%BCrkiye-country-brief.
Department of Veteran Affairs. “Anzac Day - Gallipoli, Türkiye,” Australian Government, accessed 24 November 2025. https://www.dva.gov.au/recognition/commemorations/commemorative-services/overseas-commemorative-services/anzac-day-gallipoli-turkiye.
“Depth study (core) – Australia: making a nation – from Federation to WWI (1889 – c. 1919).” NSW Government, accessed 24 November 2025. https://curriculum.nsw.edu.au/learning-areas/hsie/history-7-10-2024/content/stage-5/fa417f1d53.
Der Matossian, Bedross, ed. Denial of Genocides in the Twenty-First Century. Nebraska University Press, 2023.
Diamadis, Panayiotis. “Friends in Crisis: Anzacs and Hellenism.” Modern Greek Studies (Australia and New Zealand) 18 (2017): 211-237. https://openjournals.test.library.sydney.edu.au/MGST/article/view/12688/11644.
Doberstein, Carey. “Whom Do Bureaucrats Believe? A Randomized Controlled Experiment Testing Perceptions of Credibility of Policy Research.” Policy Studies Journal 45, no. 2 (2017): 384-405. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12166.
Doberstein, Carey. “The Credibility Chasm in Policy Research from Academics, Think Tanks, and Advocacy Organizations.” Canadian Public Policy 43, no. 4 (2017): 363-375. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/680376.
“Erdogan Repeats Threat against Greece During G20.” Politico, 16 November 2022. https://www.politico.eu/article/recep-erdogan-turkey-threat-against-greece-g20/.
“F-10 curriculum (version 8.4),” Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, accessed 18 January 2022. https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10- curriculum/.
Flood, Michael, Martin, Brian, and Dreher, Tanja. “Combining Academia and Activism: Common Obstacles and Useful Tools.” Australian Universities Review 55, no. 1 (2013): 17-26.
“Gandel Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness in Australia Survey.” Gandel Foundation. archived January 2020. https://gandelfoundation.org.au/gandel-holocaust-survey/.
Garibian, Sévane. “Taking Denial Seriously: Genocide Denial and Freedom of Speech in the French Law.” Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution 9, no. 2 (2008): 479-488.
Garibian, Sévane. “On the Breaking of Consensus: The Perinçek Case, the Armenian Genocide and International Criminal Law,” In Denialism and Human Rights, edited by Jan Willems, Hans Nelen and Roland Moerland, 235-250. Intersentia, 2016.
Ghazanchyan, Siranush. “Australian State of Tasmania Recognizes the Armenian Genocide.” Public Radio of Armenia, 11 May 2023. https://en.armradio.am/2023/05/11/ australian-state-of-tasmania-recognizes-the-armenian-genocide/.
Giannopolouos, Bill. “Community Leaders across Australia Support Motion to Recognize 1915 Genocides.” Greek City Times, 7 November 2024. https://greekcitytimes. com/2024/11/07/community-leaders-across-australia-support-motion-to-recognise-1915- genocides/.
“Greek Organisations Urge Victorian Politicians to Support Motion on Greek, Assyrian, and Armenian Genocides.” Neos Kosmos, 21 October 2024. https://neoskosmos. com/en/2024/10/21/news/australia/victorian-leaders-urged-to-recognise-greek-assyrian-and-armenian-genocides/.
“Gallipoli Campaign: Forging the Nation – Federation: The First 20 years.” Australian War Memorial, accessed 24 November 2025. https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/ forging/ww1/gallipoli.
Gzoyan, Edita. “Genocide Denial under Constitutional Law: Comparative analysis of Spain, Germany and France,” International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies 3, no. 1 (2016): 72-87.
“Hear a Witness. Become One.” Melbourne Holocaust Museum, accessed 24 October 2025. https://mhm.org.au/.
Heffernan, Troy, and Kathleen Smithers. “Working at the Level Above: University Promotion Policies as a Tool for Wage Theft and Underpayment.” Higher Education Research and Development 44, no. 3 (2025): 585-599. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360. 2024.2412656.
Hooks, Bell. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Routledge, 1994.
Huttenbach, Henry R. “The Psychology and Politics of Genocide Denial: A Comparison of Four Case Studies.” In Studies in Comparative Genocide, ed. Levon Chorbajian and George Shirinian, 216-220. Palgrave Macmillan, 1999.
IAGS. “About Us,” accessed 25 November 2025. https://genocidescholars.org/about-us/.
“Inaugural Joint Justice Initiative Advocacy Week Kicks Off in Canberra.” The Greek Herald, 21 March 2023. https://greekherald.com.au/news/inaugural-joint-justice-initiative-advocacy-week-kicks-off-in-canberra/.
“International Trade: Supplementary Information, Calendar Year.” Australian Bureau of Statistics, accessed 25 November 2025. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/international-trade/international-trade-supplementary-information-calendar-year/latest-release.
Jessani, Nasreen S., Brenton Ling, Carly Babcock, Akshara Valmeekanathan, and David R Holtgrave. “Advocacy, Activism, and Lobbying: How Variations in Interpretation Affects Ability for Academia to Engage with Public Policy.” PLOS Global Public Health 2, no. 3 (2022) e0000034: 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000034.
Johnston, Ron, and Paul Plummer. “Commentary: What Is Policy-Oriented Research?”. Environment and Planning A 37, no. 9 (2005): 1521-26. https://doi.org/10.1068/a3845.Katsikana, Mantha. “Feminist Scholar-Activism.” In Doing Feminist Urban Research: Insights from the Genurb Project, edited by Linda Peake, Nasya S. Razavi, and Araby Smyth, 66-81. Routledge, 2024.
Koinova, Maria. “Conflict and Cooperation in Armenian Diaspora Mobilisation for Genocide Recognition.” In Diaspora as Cultures of Cooperation: Global and Local Perspectives, edited by David Carment and Ariane Sadjed, 111-129. Springer International Publishing, 2017.
Koziol, Michael. “Armenian Leaders Snub Scott Morrison over ‘Offensive Backflip’ on Genocide Declaration.” The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney), 23 April 2019. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/armenian-leaders-snub-scott-morrison-over-offensive-backflip-on-genocide-declaration-20190423-p51gg0.html.
Maxey, Ian. “Beyond Boundaries? Activism, Academia, Reflexivity, and Research.” Area 31, no. 3 (1999): 199-208. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20003985.
Nefes, Turkay Salim, Gurpınar Dogan, and Ozgur Kaymak. “Turkish Parliamentary Debates About the International Recognition of the Armenian Genocide: Development and Variations in the Official Denialism.” Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 23, no. 4 (2023): 883-899. https://doi.org/10.1080/14683857.2022.2149042.
New South Wales Legislative Assembly. Parliamentary Debate, 17 April 1997 (“Armenian Genocide Commemoration”) 7737-7742. https://web.archive.org/web/20120204134838/http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA19970417004.
New South Wales Legislative Assembly. Parliamentary Debate, 8 May 2019 (“Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides,” moved by Mr. Barry O’Farrell, Premier). https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/permalink?id=HANSARD-1323879322-52555.
New South Wales Legislative Council. Parliamentary Debate, 7 February 2024 (“Genocide Education and Awareness,” Chris Rath, MLC) 4:58 p.m. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/permalink?id=HANSARD-1820781676-94610.
O’Brien, Melanie. From Discrimination to Death: Genocide Process through a Human Rights Lens. Routledge, 2023.
O’Brien, Melanie. “Australia’s Response to Contemporary Genocides.” In The Palgrave Handbook on Australia and the Holocaust, edited by Avril Alba and Jan Lanicek. Palgrave, 2025.
“Our Museum for the Future.” Sydney Jewish Museum, accessed 24 October 2025. https://sydneyjewishmuseum.com.au/.
Pain, Rachel. “Social Geography: On Action-Orientated Research.” Progress in Human Geography 27, no. 5 (2003): 649-657. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1191/ 0309132503ph455pr.
Patty, Anna, and Judith Whelan. “MPs Warned Off Armenia with Anzac Threat.” The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney), 16 November 2013. https://www.smh.com.au/national/ mps-warned-off-armenia-with-anzac-threat-20131115-2xmcc.html.
Pégorier, Clotilde. “Speech and Harm: Genocide Denial, Hate Speech and Freedom of Expression,” International Criminal Law Review 18, no. 1 (2018): 97-126.
“PM Anthony Albanese Bows to Turkey Despite Record Number of Australian Parliamentarians Calling for Federal Recognition of Armenian Genocide.” Armenian National Committee of Australia, 25 April 2023. https://www.anc.org.au/news/Media- Releases/PM-Anthony-Albanese-Bows-to-Turkey-Despite-Record-Number-of-Australian- Parliamentarians-Calling-for-Federal-Recognition-of-Armenian-Genocide.
Pruitt, William R. “Understanding Genocide Denial Legislation: A Comparative Analysis.” International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences 12, no. 2 (2017): 270-84.
Rahbari, Ladan, Dion Kramer, Marie Deserno, Tommy Tse, and Tiago R. Matos. “Activism and Academia: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue on Academic Freedom and Social Engagement.” Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 47, no. 1 (2025): 73- 89. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080x.2024.2390197.
“Research Fellows.” Sydney Jewish Museum, accessed 25 November 2025. https:// sydneyjewishmuseum.com.au/research-fellowships/.
Rhodes, Carl, Christopher Wright, and Alison Pullen. “Changing the World? The Politics of Activism and Impact in the Neoliberal University.” Organization 25, no. 1 (2018): 139-147. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508417726546.
Routledge, Paul. “The Third Space as Critical Engagement.” Antipode 28, no. 4 (1996): 399-419. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.1996.tb00533.x.
Smyth, John. The Toxic University: Zombie Leadership, Academic Rock Stars and Neoliberal Ideology. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
Staff, TNH. “Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek Communities in Australia Call for Genocide Recognition.” The National Herald, 28 February 2020. https://www. thenationalherald.com/armenian-assyrian-and-greek-communities-in-australia-call-for-genocide-recognition/.
“South Australia State Legislative Council Resolution.” Armenian National Institute, archived 25 March 2009. https://www.armenian-genocide.org/Affirmation.404/current_ category.13/affirmation_detail.html.
“Statement on Armenia.” The Greens Victoria, accessed 24 November 2025. https://greens.org.au/vic/statement-on-armenia.
Stoddard, Thomas B. “Essay: Bleeding Heart: Reflections on Using the Law to Make Social Change.” New York University Law Review 72 (1997): 967-991.
“Sydney’s Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrians Unite to Demand Recognition of 1915 Genocides.” The Greek Herald, 12 April 2024. https://greekherald.com.au/community/sydneys-greeks-armenians-and-assyrians-unite-to-demand-recognition-of-1915-genocides/.
Tatz, Colin. “Turkey, the Armenian Genocide, and the Politics of Memory.” The Conversation, 19 December 2013. https://theconversation.com/turkey-the-armenian-genocide-and-the-politics-of-memory-20747.
Tatz, Colin. “100 Years on, Australia’s Still out of Step on the Armenian Genocide.” The Conversation, 24 April 2015. https://theconversation.com/100-years-on-australias-still-out-of-step-on-the-armenian-genocide-39792.
The University of Melbourne. “Australian and Comparative Constitutional Law,” Library Guides, last modified 12 November 2025. https://unimelb.libguides.com/constitutional_law/australia_state.
Theriault, Henry. “Universal Social Theory and the Denial of Genocide: Norman Itzkowitz Revisited.” Journal of Genocide Research 3, no. 2 (2001): 241-256.
Theriault, Henry. “Denial and Free Speech: The Case of the Armenian Genocide.” In Looking Backward, Moving Forward: Confronting the Armenian Genocide, edited by Richard G. Hovannisian, 231-261. Routledge, 2003.
Tranter, Kieran, and Timothy D. Peters. “Benchmarks for Australian Law Researchers’ H-Index and Citation Count Bibliometrics.” Law, Technology and Humans 7, no. 1 (2025): 154-174. https://doi.org/10.5204/lthj.3780. https://lthj.qut.edu.au/article/view/3780.
Treloar, David W.G. and Panayiotis Diamadis. From Genocide to Regeneration: The Photographs of George Devine Treloar. Sydney: Unity in Philia Press, 2025.
“Turkey Threatens to Ban MPs from Gallipoli Centenary over Genocide Vote.” ABC News, 21 August 2013. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-21/turkey-threatens-nsw-parliament-over-armenian-genocide-vote/4903444.
van der Pas, Kris. “Conceptualising Strategic Litigation.” Oñati Socio-Legal Series 11, no. 6(S) (2021): S116-S145. https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1226.
Venzke, Ingo. “Against Impact.” Leiden Journal of International Law 37, no. 4 (2024): 757-762.
“Victorian Greens Backflip on Motion to Recognize Greek, Armenian and Assyrian Genocides.” The Greek Herald, 24 October 2024. https://greekherald.com.au/news/politics/victorian-greens-backflip-on-motion-to-recognise-greek-armenian-and-assyrian-genocides/.
“Victorian Premier Faces Greek Voter Backlash over Stance on Genocide Motion.” The Greek Herald, October 24, 2024. https://greekherald.com.au/news/politics/victorian- premier-faces-greek-voter-backlash-over-stance-on-genocide-motion/.
“Understanding Gallipoli.” Australian War Memorial, accessed 24 November 2025. https://www.awm.gov.au/learn/schools/resources/understanding-gallipoli.
“Understanding Gallipoli: The Cost.” Australian War Memorial, accessed 24 November 2025. .Williams June, Audrey. “When Activism Is Worth the Risk: Academics Who Champion Causes May Be Gambling with Their Careers. But for Some Dedicated Activists, the Choice Is Clear.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 20 July 2015. https:// https://www.awm.gov.au/learn/schools/resources/understanding-gallipoli/costwww.chronicle.com/article/when-activism-is-worth-the-risk.
Wolvaardt, Francois Adriaan. “Genocide, Diasporic Identity and Activism: The Narratives, Identity and Activisim of Armenian-Australians and Turkish-Australians Regarding the Recognition of the Deaths of Armenians During First World War as Genocide.” PhD diss., University of Western Australia, 2013. http://research-repository. uwa.edu.au/en/publications/record(9f1bf95e-598d-4c93-8619-d7b59835c47d).html.
Zarifian, Julien. “The Armenian and Turkish Lobbying, and the (Non-) Recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States.” In Congress and Diaspora Politics, edited by A. Thurber James, C. Campbell Colton and A. Dulio David, 117-137. SUNY Press, 2018.
Zarifian, Julien. The United States and the Armenian Genocide: History, Memory, Politics. Rutgers University Press, 2024.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Melanie O’Brien
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
