We at the Oceania Working Party (OWP) would love to hear from the community on who you think should make the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

The OWP is looking to commission authors to write peer-reviewed biographical entries of usually between 500-2000 words on prominent and representative Pacific Islanders whose lives intersect with Australia or Australians. These entries will go into the Australian Dictionary of Biography which currently has around 60 million visits per year.

Of over 13,000 entries in the ADB, only 31 are Pacific Islanders and only 1 is authored by a Pacific Islander. The OWP aims to increase the numbers of indigenous Pacific Islanders,  women and peoples of diverse genders in the ADB. We aim to help shift the national narrative about the intersection of Australian and Pacific histories and cultures and the importance of Pacific and Australian South Sea Islander communities in this country.

Rules for submission is that the person must be of Pacific Islander heritage and must have passed away from the year 2000 or earlier.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask them on the Pacific Biography in Australia Facebook page or by emailing OceaniaWorkingParty@gmail.com