Airdate: Australia After War

4 part documentary Australia After War  explores the experience of return for those who have fought in Australia’s wars.

What is it like to come home after war? And what are the factors that determine the success or failure of that return?

The series is produced by WildBear Entertainment.

Australia has a long history of sending men and women to war. From the mass global conflicts of World Wars One and Two, to the smaller Cold War and peacekeeping operations, or even Australia’s most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – in just over a century our country has sent close to one million men and women to over forty conflicts.

From the Great War onwards, combining the personal stories of veterans and their families, and contextualized by commentary from leading academics and experts, Australia After War is a comprehensive and thought-provoking exploration of one of the most important icons in Australian life.

Returning from war to civilian life can be challenging. What makes that transition easy or difficult; unremarkable or deeply traumatic; depends on a multitude of factors. Why, for some veterans, is return successful whilst others fall apart? From the Great War to the modern day, this first episode explores the factors that impact on the experience of return for Australia’s service personnel – from the complexities of return; to how public opinion affects the experience of return; to how we look after our returned; and to how war and conflict changes people.

9:30pm tonight on ABC.