Soldier On: WWI Soldier Settler Stories

Between 1918 and 1934, the Soldier Settlement Scheme helped settle some 11,000 returned soldiers on farming land across the state through government leases. Through original records, as well as first-hand videos and photographs, the exhibition shows how the Scheme shaped the Victorian landscape as we know it today.  Kate Luciano will talk about the establishment of the Soldier Settlement Scheme in Victoria, and the harsh realities of life on a soldier settlement farm. She will show some of the success stories, as well as the failures identified in the 1925 Royal Commission on the scheme.
Soldier On: WWI Soldier Settler Stories is currently on show at the Old Treasury Building Museum. The exhibition features records from the state archives revealing previously untold stories of returned soldiers and the Soldier Settlement Scheme.
Kate Luciano graduated from a Masters of Public History from the University of Melbourne in 2005 and, since then, has worked consistently in the heritage sector. For more than 5 years, she has been the Curator for the Public Record Office Victoria, which has its exhibition space at the historic Old Treasury Building in Melbourne. Her area of specialty is Australian social history.