Australia on the Map is an community network set up to commemorate the voyages of early mariners who charted Australia's coast. It was set up after a workshop at the National Library in 2002.
2006 marks 400 years since the Duyfken, under the command of Willem Janszoon, sailed over 300 kilometres of the western coastline of Cape York in an unsuccessful quest to find a passage to the Pacific Ocean. Over the next two hundred years a number of mariners, many of them working for the Dutch East India Company (VOC), charted much of the coastline, as European countries sought new opportunities and new shipping routes.
The Australia on the Map organisation, with support and assistance from a range of government, non-government and overseas organisations, has developed a program of events around Australia during 2006, with the aim of increasing Australian’s awareness and appreciation of our early history, beginning in 1606. Activities range from Australian voyages by overseas-based replica ships, to publications and exhibitions.
