The Sydney-based Dutch Australian Weekly (DAW) was founded in 1951 by Alfred Schuurman and A. Hilbrink with the assistance of Earl White from the Cumberland Newspapers.
The paper was established to serve the Dutch community in Australia, providing news, features, and information about events and issues of interest to Dutch Australians. At is peak in the mid 1950s it sold 10,000 copies a week.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the circulation of the DAW declined steadily, reflecting changes in the Dutch Australian community and the broader media landscape. It still hovered around the 7.000 subscribers during that period. It became a fortnightly publication in 1981. However, the paper experienced a revival under the energetic management and editorship of Bob Warnas, a former Dutch army officer who took over in 1984.
Warnas introduced a number of changes that helped to increase the paper’s circulation and readership. These included improved distribution, in-house computerised typesetting, and a focus on the increased leisure time and nostalgia of the ageing Dutch community.
As a result of these changes, the DAW had at is heydays an Australia-wide circulation of 5000, with a readership believed to number about 20,000. The paper continued to serve as an important source of news and information for the Dutch Australian community, covering topics ranging from politics and current events to culture, history, and the arts.
By the time it ceased publication, in October 2004, it was monthly. Wabe Roskam was the last editor of the DAW.
The newspaper below mentions the 40th anniversary of the Dutch Australian Weekly.
