--- title: 'Australian propaganda posters: enlistment, conscription and home front' url: https://propagandaarchive.org/australian-propaganda-posters/ description: 'Australian propaganda posters 1915 to 2013: WWI enlistment, the 1916 and 1917 conscription referendums, WWII home front, with sources and rights shown.' section: FRAME --- ![Illustration: a dossier collage of an evidence wall of pinned propaganda posters, leaflets and printed matter from many eras, with contact sheets and catalog labels.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/hero-collection.jpg) Collection # Australian propaganda posters: enlistment, conscription and home front Australian propaganda posters 1915 to 2013: WWI enlistment, the 1916 and 1917 conscription referendums, WWII home front, with sources and rights shown. 1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/) 2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) 3. Australian propaganda posters [![Australia has promised Britain 50,000 more men; will you help us keep that promise](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/australia-50000-more-men-1915-640.jpg)Australia has promised Britain 50,000 more men; will you help us keep that promise](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/australia-50000-more-men-1915/) [![The Labor Call (Melbourne), 'The Same Old Enemies', page 6, 14 September 1916](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/labor-call-same-old-enemies-1916-640.jpg)The Labor Call (Melbourne), 'The Same Old Enemies', page 6, 14 September 1916](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/labor-call-same-old-enemies-1916/) [![Air Crews Wanted for R.A.A.F.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/air-crews-wanted-for-raaf-australia-1939-640.jpg)Air Crews Wanted for R.A.A.F.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/air-crews-wanted-for-raaf-australia-1939/) [![Cinesound Review, Kokoda Front Line!, newsreel frame (title card, correspondent's credentials, 1942)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/kokoda-front-line-cinesound-review-card-1942.jpg)Cinesound Review, Kokoda Front Line!, newsreel frame (title card, correspondent's credentials, 1942)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kokoda-front-line-cinesound-review-card-1942/) [!['The Jap will get you first if you neglect to protect driving bands of shells' (LHQ ammunition-care poster no. 6)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/the-jap-will-get-you-first-driving-bands-australia-1943.jpg)'The Jap will get you first if you neglect to protect driving bands of shells' (LHQ ammunition-care poster no. 6)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/the-jap-will-get-you-first-driving-bands-australia-1943/) [!['No Way. You will not make Australia home' poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/no-way-operation-sovereign-borders-2013-640.jpg)'No Way. You will not make Australia home' poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/no-way-operation-sovereign-borders-2013/) > **Content note.** Several Second World War posters here, issued by Australian government bodies and factories, draw Japanese people as caricatures or vermin-like menaces and use the period slur "Jap"; a 1944 information sheet calls First Nations Australians "primitive nomads". Both sides of the First World War press and referendum campaigns also name opponents as "Huns" or "enemies". All are shown as issued, with the other posters. Showing an item is not endorsing it. [What were Australian propaganda posters?](https://propagandaarchive.org/australian-propaganda-posters/#what-were-australian-propaganda-posters) [The 1915 to 1916 enlistment posters](https://propagandaarchive.org/australian-propaganda-posters/#the-1915-to-1916-enlistment-posters) [The conscription referendums, 1916 and 1917](https://propagandaarchive.org/australian-propaganda-posters/#the-conscription-referendums-1916-and-1917) [1916 to 1918](https://propagandaarchive.org/australian-propaganda-posters/#1916-to-1918-the-enemy-as-monster) [The Second World War home front](https://propagandaarchive.org/australian-propaganda-posters/#the-second-world-war-home-front) [The Cold War and after](https://propagandaarchive.org/australian-propaganda-posters/#the-cold-war-and-after) ## What were Australian propaganda posters? Australian propaganda posters are recruiting, referendum, production and security sheets issued from 1915 to the 2010s by the Commonwealth government, parties, unions, shops and factories. Two conscription referendums (1916, 1917) were both lost, so the First World War army stayed volunteer, and both sides campaigned by poster. ![Recruiting poster of 1915: a kangaroo beside a large 50,000 and a column of marching soldiers](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/australia-50000-more-men-1915.jpg) ## The 1915 to 1916 enlistment posters An Adelaide-printed sheet of 1915 puts a kangaroo beside "50,000 more men" and frames a pledge to Britain as the viewer's own debt ([Bandwagon](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bandwagon/)). Harry J. Weston's "Get a move on old man!" has a bandaged soldier speak slang to the viewer, so enlisting sounds like a mate's request ([Plain folks](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/plain-folks/)). ![Poster of 1915 by Harry J. Weston: a bandaged soldier shading his eyes, under the words Get a move on old man](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/australia-get-a-move-on-1915.jpg) ![Sydney recruiting poster of 1915: a black panel quoting General Sir Ian Hamilton under a Union Jack](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/australias-imperishable-record-1915.jpg) Explain moreShow less His 1916 "Were YOU there then?" holds a torn flag over a woman's accusing question ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)). Farmer's department store in Sydney printed a quotation from General Sir Ian Hamilton on Gallipoli under "Australians! The empire needs you" ([Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/)). ## The conscription referendums, 1916 and 1917 Prime Minister W. M. Hughes put overseas conscription to a vote on 28 October 1916. The Yes side was carried by most big dailies: that day's Sydney *Daily Telegraph* ran a trench cartoon asking "will you stick to him?" ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)). The No side used labour papers, handbills and union campaigns. ![The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, 28 October 1916: a soldier at a trench parapet above the caption He's sticking to you to-day](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/daily-telegraph-referendum-day-yes-cartoon-1916.jpg) ![The Labor Call, Melbourne, 14 September 1916, page 6: The Same Old Enemies](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/labor-call-same-old-enemies-1916.jpg) **Content note:** Political caricature of the Australian Prime Minister W. M. Hughes; no graphic content. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) ![No-Conscription Campaign sheet: caricatured Hughes beside the quoted words In no circumstances would I agree to send men out of the country](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/in-no-circumstances-hughes-no-conscription-1916.jpg) ![Anti-conscription leaflet The Blood Vote: a woman drops a YES slip into a ballot box as blood drips from the frame](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/the-blood-vote-anti-conscription-1916.jpg) ![Yes poster of 1917: a torn paper strip quoting Andrew Fisher, Our scrap of paper, honor it](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/reinforcements-referendum-vote-yes-1917.jpg) Explain moreShow less The Labor Call, the Victorian Labor council's paper, answered with one list of "ruthless enemies of Labor" ([Scapegoating](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/scapegoating/)). The No-Conscription Campaign quoted Hughes's 1915 Hansard sentence against his later proposal and left out the debate between them ([Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/)). "The Blood Vote", a leaflet whose drawing is by Claude Marquet and whose imprint names John Curtin as secretary, shows a woman dropping a Yes slip into a ballot box while blood drips ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)). The second vote, on 20 December 1917, was lost by a wider margin. The Reinforcements Referendum Council's Yes poster quotes former Prime Minister Andrew Fisher and recasts "scrap of paper" as a pledge to honour ([Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/)). ![The Ballarat Courier, 13 December 1916, page 3, with the headline Huns' Slave Raids](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/ballarat-courier-huns-slave-raids-1916.jpg) ## 1916 to 1918: the enemy as monster The Ballarat Courier's own headlines call Germans "Huns" over cabled Reuters and Times reports ([Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/)). The Commonwealth's last national recruiting campaign, in 1918, used six Norman Lindsay posters. One is a spiked-helmet ogre and a question mark; another asks "Will you fight now or wait for this", staging a German raid on Australian soil ([Dehumanization](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/dehumanization/), [False dilemma](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/false-dilemma/)). **Content note:** Dehumanising caricature of Germans as a blood-covered ape-like ogre. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) ![Norman Lindsay poster of 1918: a spiked-helmet ogre grips a globe, with a question mark](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/question-mark-german-ogre-lindsay-1918.jpg) **Content note:** Invasion-atrocity imagery: German soldiers threatening civilians, a body on the ground and a burning building. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) ![Norman Lindsay poster of 1918: German soldiers level rifles at a man against a water tank, under Will you fight now or wait for this](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/will-you-fight-now-or-wait-for-this-1918.jpg) ![Department of Information poster of 1942: a caricatured Japanese soldier strides over Australia under the words He's coming south](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/hes-coming-south-australia-1942.jpg) ## The Second World War home front "He's coming south. It's fight, work or perish" ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)) was, by the Australian War Memorial's record, thought alarmist enough that it was not released in Queensland or Melbourne. Factories made their own: General Motors-Holden's sheets set a bowing caricature against a worker's absence and a grimacing mask in a press. ![General Motors-Holden's silkscreen poster of 1942: a bowing caricature with a hidden dagger, Honorable thanks, ABSENTEE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/honourable-thanks-absentee-australia-1942.jpg) ![Industrial poster: a grimacing yellow face in the jaws of a press, Put the squeeze on the Japanese](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/put-the-squeeze-on-the-japanese-australia-1942.jpg) ![Careless-talk poster of 1942: a caricatured Japanese officer cups a hand to his ear above a map of Australia](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/the-enemy-listens-your-words-are-his-weapons-australia-1942.jpg) ![Department of Aircraft Production poster of 1943: a map of Australia ringed by Japanese warships](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/ringed-with-menace-beauforts-1943.jpg) **Content note:** Depicts an attack on a hospital ship: a burning ship and women in the water. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) ![Poster, c. 1943: the hospital ship Centaur burning, Work, Save, Fight and so Avenge the Nurses](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/work-save-fight-avenge-the-nurses-1943.jpg) ![Department of National Service poster of 1943: six women in service and munitions uniforms under Join us in a victory job](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/join-us-in-a-victory-job-australia-1943.jpg) Explain moreShow less A careless-talk poster drew the same figure as a listener. The Department of Aircraft Production's "Ringed with menace" circled a map with warships to sell Beaufort bombers, while the Centaur poster turned the 1943 sinking of a hospital ship, which killed 11 of its 12 nurses, into a call to work, save and fight ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)). In the other direction, "Join us in a victory job" simply lines up women in uniform ([Bandwagon](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bandwagon/)). ## The Cold War and after The collection's Cold War material is mostly Australian subjects shown by others. A 1964 United States Information Agency photo sheet, in Vietnamese, presents the arrival of Australian air transport crews as widening support ([Bandwagon](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bandwagon/)); a 1966 sheet in the same agency's "Common Struggle" series quotes Minister Paul Hasluck ([Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/)). ![United States Information Agency sheet no. 5, 1966: AUSTRALIA, a quotation from Minister Paul Hasluck beside photographs of troops](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/the-common-struggle-australia-1966.jpg) The Australian Government's own 2013 "No Way" notice for Operation Sovereign Borders uses a storm-dark sea to stage one safe course ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)). ![Australian Government poster of 2013: a small boat in a storm-dark sea beneath NO WAY](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/no-way-operation-sovereign-borders-2013.jpg) ## What the collection does not hold - **Not here:** the 1951 referendum on banning the Communist Party, Menzies-era Cold War posters, and Australian-made Cold War posters generally. The 1964 and 1966 Cold War sheets were issued by the United States. - **Not here:** all six of the 1918 Lindsay posters (two are held), and party election posters beyond one 1940 Labor Senate ticket. - **Not here:** Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander accounts of these campaigns, and the 1967 referendum material. - The 1942 Curtin broadside and Australian Task Force leaflets in Vietnam are held as leaflets, not posters. Sources and further reading ## Sources Australian War Memorial collection records (ARTV series and RC02368); Library of Congress, World War I Posters; State Library… Australian War Memorial collection records (ARTV series and RC02368); Library of Congress, World War I Posters; State Library Victoria and State Library of New South Wales, conscription collections; National Library of Australia, Trove newspapers; National Archives (United States), Record Group 306. Each item in the grid carries its own source and rights note. ## Australian posters and press in the collection Showing 32 of 32 objects. [Filter the whole collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/). - [Australia has promised Britain 50,000 more men; will you help us keep that promise](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/australia-50000-more-men-1915/) (Australia · 1915 · Bandwagon, Transfer) - ['Get a move on old man!' (Harry J. Weston, Sydney)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/australia-get-a-move-on-1915/) (Australia · 1915 · Plain folks) - [Australia's imperishable record. Australians! The empire needs you (Farmer's, Sydney)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/australias-imperishable-record-1915/) (Australia · 1915 · Testimonial, Glittering generalities) - ['Were YOU there then?' (Harry J. Weston)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/australia-were-you-there-then-1916/) (Australia · 1916 · Transfer) - [W. M. Hughes, M.H.R.: "In no circumstances would I agree to send men out of the country to fight against their will" (No-Conscription Campaign)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/in-no-circumstances-hughes-no-conscription-1916/) (Australia · 1916 · Card stacking) - [The Blood Vote (anti-conscription leaflet)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/the-blood-vote-anti-conscription-1916/) (Australia · 1916 · Transfer, Fear appeal) - [The Labor Call (Melbourne), 'The Same Old Enemies', page 6, 14 September 1916](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/labor-call-same-old-enemies-1916/) (Australia · Sep 14, 1916 · Name-calling, Scapegoating). Content note: Anti-conscription article that calls employers, pastoralists, Tory parties and named politicians 'ruthless enemies of Labor' and uses 'Shylock' for war-loan lenders. - [The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), page 12, referendum day, 28 October 1916: 'He's sticking to you to-day, will you stick to him?'](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/daily-telegraph-referendum-day-yes-cartoon-1916/) (Australia · Oct 28, 1916 · Transfer, Bandwagon). Content note: Pro-conscription cartoon of a soldier at a trench parapet, plus a report of a speaker attacked and a chairman nearly lynched ('Hang the ----'). - [The Ballarat Courier, page 3, 13 December 1916: 'Huns' Slave Raids' and 'Huns Impose Heavy Levies'](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ballarat-courier-huns-slave-raids-1916/) (Australia · Dec 13, 1916 · Name-calling). Content note: Headlines use 'Huns' as a label for Germans over wartime reports of civilian deportation and killings. - [Reinforcements. Our scrap of paper, honor it. Vote Yes. Referendum (Australia, 1917)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/reinforcements-referendum-vote-yes-1917/) (Australia · 1917 · Testimonial, Transfer) - [? (The German Ogre), Norman Lindsay recruiting poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/question-mark-german-ogre-lindsay-1918/) (Australia · 1918 · Name-calling, Fear appeal, Dehumanization) - [Will you fight now or wait for this (Australian recruiting poster, Norman Lindsay)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/will-you-fight-now-or-wait-for-this-1918/) (Australia · 1918 · Fear appeal, False dilemma) - [Air Crews Wanted for R.A.A.F.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/air-crews-wanted-for-raaf-australia-1939/) (Australia · 1939 · Transfer) - [Coming? Then Hurry! Air Crews Wanted Now for the R.A.A.F.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/coming-then-hurry-raaf-australia-1939/) (Australia · 1939 · Bandwagon) - [Win the war: Australian Labor Party Senate ticket, New South Wales (1940)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/australian-labor-party-senate-ashley-1940/) (Australia · 1940 · Testimonial, Glittering generalities) - ['Don't thrash your vehicle!' (Australian vehicle-maintenance poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dont-thrash-your-vehicle-australia-1942/) (Australia · 1942 · Transfer). Content note: Caricature of a grinning Japanese figure swinging a spiked flail. - ['He's coming south. It's fight, work or perish' (Australian Department of Information)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hes-coming-south-australia-1942/) (Australia · 1942 · Fear appeal). Content note: Racialised caricature of a Japanese soldier stepping on Australia. - ['"Honorable thanks" ABSENTEE' (Australian silkscreen poster, General Motors Holden)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/honourable-thanks-absentee-australia-1942/) (Australia · 1942 · Name-calling, Fear appeal). Content note: Racial caricature of a Japanese man holding a bloodied dagger, with mock-pidgin speech. - [Cinesound Review, Kokoda Front Line!, newsreel frame (title card, correspondent's credentials, 1942)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kokoda-front-line-cinesound-review-card-1942/) (Australia · 1942 · Testimonial) - ['Put the squeeze on the Japanese' (Australian industrial-effort poster, General Motors Holden)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/put-the-squeeze-on-the-japanese-australia-1942/) (Australia · 1942 · Name-calling). Content note: Racial caricature: a yellow-skinned, slit-eyed Japanese face crushed in an industrial press. - ['The Spearhead reaches SOUTH - ALWAYS SOUTH!' (Curtin leaflet)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/spearhead-reaches-south-curtin-leaflet-1942/) (Australia · 1942 · Fear appeal) - ['The enemy listens. Your words are his weapons.' (Australian careless-talk poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/the-enemy-listens-your-words-are-his-weapons-australia-1942/) (Australia · 1942 · Fear appeal, Name-calling). Content note: Racial caricature of a red-faced Japanese officer. - ['Join us in a victory job' (Australian Department of National Service)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/join-us-in-a-victory-job-australia-1943/) (Australia · 1943 · Bandwagon) - [Ringed with menace! Bar the gates with 'Beauforts' (Australian aircraft-production poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ringed-with-menace-beauforts-1943/) (Australia · 1943 · Fear appeal) - ['The Jap will get you first if you neglect to protect driving bands of shells' (LHQ ammunition-care poster no. 6)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/the-jap-will-get-you-first-driving-bands-australia-1943/) (Australia · 1943 · Fear appeal, Transfer). Content note: Ethnic slur ('Jap') in the slogan; a Japanese soldier aims a rifle at the viewer. - ['We'll take care of the Japs, mates, if you'll take care of our food' (Australian food-hygiene poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/well-take-care-of-the-japs-mates-australia-1943/) (Australia · 1943 · Plain folks, Transfer). Content note: Ethnic slur ('Japs') in the slogan. - [Work, Save, Fight and so Avenge the Nurses! (Centaur poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/work-save-fight-avenge-the-nurses-1943/) (Australia · 1943 · Transfer) - ['90% of the world's rubber is in Japanese hands: Save rubber' (Australian Army poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/90-percent-of-rubber-in-japanese-hands-australia-1944/) (Australia · 1944 · Fear appeal, Transfer). Content note: A clawed, hairy hand standing for Japan reaches out of the dark (Australian wartime poster). - [This is Australia: One of the United Nations](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/this-is-australia-one-of-the-united-nations-australia-1944/) (Australia · 1944 · Card stacking, Transfer) - [Answering the Call, Australian Air Detachment poster (Vietnamese poster distributed in Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/answering-the-call-australian-air-detachment-vietnamese-1964/) (United States · Oct 19, 1964 · Bandwagon, Testimonial) - [The Common Struggle: Australia Propaganda Poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/the-common-struggle-australia-1966/) (United States · 1966 · Testimonial, Bandwagon) - ['No Way. You will not make Australia home' poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/no-way-operation-sovereign-borders-2013/) (Australia · Sep 13, 2013 · Fear appeal)