Symposium Allied Co-operation in Brisbane during WWII: Australia, USA, Netherlands, UK The symposium Allied Co-operation in Brisbane during WWII: Australia, USA, Netherlands, UK (University of Queensland, 30–31 August 2025) drew a full house of delegates, historians, community representatives, and descendants to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Read more
Lia van Haren Lia van Haren has been a long-standing volunteer at the Dutch Australian Cultural Centre (DACC), beginning her service in 2009. Before this, she had little involvement with Dutch organisations in Australia, having assimilated quickly into the broader community after migrating with her family in 1950. Her family’s Read more
Ian Fairweather and the Netherlands Ian Fairweather (1891–1974), born in Bridge of Allan, Scotland, became one of Australia’s most distinctive modern painters. His path to Australia was long and unusual, and the Netherlands played an important part in it. Wartime and The Hague In 1914 Fairweather joined the British Army. Read more
Christiaan Rudolph Victor Slotemaker de Bruine (born 7 May 1941, The Hague; died 27 August 2024, Canberra) was a Dutch-Australian landscape architect best known as the originator and designer of Canberra’s Floriade, now Australia’s largest spring festival. He conceived Floriade in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from the famous Keukenhof in Read more
Dutch footballer Bente Jansen is part of Brisbane Roar in the Ninja A-League, adding a new chapter to the Netherlands–Australia sporting connection. Jansen came to Queensland in 2025 with a strong pedigree in European football. She previously played for Dutch giants AFC Ajax, where she featured in 24 matches, scored Read more
In a story that crosses borders, generations, and identities, Hendrika de Vries embodies the resilience of Dutch migrants who forged new lives in Australia after the Second World War. Her journey—from the trauma of Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to becoming South Australia’s swimming champion in 1955—is a testament to courage, adaptability, and Read more
The Dutch Australian Cultural Centre (DACC) will hold its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 23 September 2025 at 5.00pm (AEST). The meeting will be held online, and a Zoom link will be emailed to current members a few days before the date. We now have over 800 people receiving our Read more
We are proud to inform you that the Lord Mayor of Brisbane hosted an official civic reception in honour of the Camp Columbia Heritage Association on the eve of our international WWII symposium at the University of Queensland. This prestigious event took place at Brisbane City Hall, in the Balmoral Read more
In 2022, Australian authors Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, who is also an illustrator, were chosen to write the Kinderboekenweekgeschenk for Children’s Book Week (Kinderboekenweek) in the Netherlands. Children’s Book Week Children’s Book Week, or Kinderboekenweek, is an annual event in the Netherlands that brings the magic of literature to Read more
When the Netherlands East Indies collapsed under Japanese attack in early 1942, hundreds of Dutch and Indonesian military personnel found themselves in Australia. Among the units reorganised there was No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF, a joint Dutch–Australian squadron equipped with American-built B-25 Mitchell bombers. During the difficult months Read more