Roy Mundine is a Bundjalung man from Baryulgil in New South Wales. Roy joined the Army in 1958 and served for over 36 years. He was a Section Commander in the infantry, Quartermaster and a Warrant Officer Class One, serving in Malaya, England, New Zealand and twice in Vietnam and Borneo. In 1987 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his service as the Quartermaster of 49RQR and in 2016 he was appointed as the Army’s first Indigenous Elder. Mundine believes that Army is a good career choice for young people and provides them with opportunities to do and learn new things.

This interview took place on 21 March 2014 in Sydney and was conducted by Professor John Maynard and Dr Allison Cadzow with Craig Greene as part of the Australian Research Council-funded research project Serving our Country: a history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the defence of Australia.

The interview recording above is made available to be viewed here by permission of the interviewee(s), Roy Mundine. The recording may not be copied, reproduced or communicated in whole or in part without the prior permission of the interviewee(s). Requests for permission for use of this material should be made to the Serving our Country research project: our contact details.

• Return to Roy Mundine’s participant page.