Australian Baha’i History
The Baha’i Faith has been part of the fabric of Australian society for the past century.
The history of the Baha’i Faith in Australia began in 1920 with the arrival in Sydney of John Henry Hyde Dunn and Clara Dunn. Mr Dunn (1855-1941) was an Englishman and Mrs Dunn (1869-1960) was raised in Canada by Irish parents. Both had become Baha’is in the United States in the early twentieth century.
Mr and Mrs Dunn arrived in an Australia still reeling from the Great War, Australia’s costliest conflict in terms of deaths and casualties. The Baha’i message of universal peace and the oneness of humanity found a ready audience among those searching for alternatives that could prevent such a catastrophic conflict from occurring again.
The first Australians to become Baha’is were Oswald Whitaker, a Sydney optometrist, and Euphemia (Effie) Baker, a pioneering Australian woman photographer. Women were to play a leading role in the establishment and leadership of the Australian Baha’i community.
Gradually small Baha’i groups formed in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. In 1934, Australian Baha’is combined with their counterparts in New Zealand to elect their first national governing body, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Australia and New Zealand. Separate National Assemblies for Australia and New Zealand were formed in 1957.
This collection showcases some of the stories that cast a spotlight on the Faith’s rich history in Australia, and how far our community has come since its arrival more than a century ago.
In this Collection ...
Marking 90 years since election of Australia’s first National Spiritual Assembly
Delegates at the 2024 National Baha’i Convention have marked a momentous occasion, with this year’s gathering coinciding with the 90th anniversary since the inception of the very first National ...
New documentary released about Australia’s first female Baha’i and photographer Effie Baker
Euphemia ‘Effie’ Baker is an inspiring historical figure in the worldwide Baha’i community. Now, in a new film released this week, the details of her life have become more accessible than ...
‘What I’ve been waiting for’: Celebrating 100 years of the Faith in Tasmania
Gretta Lamprill was the first Tasmanian to accept the Baha’i Faith. It was early 1924, and John Henry Hyde Dunn was visiting Hobart along with his wife Clara to introduce the teachings off the ...
A centenary of building vibrant communities in Western Australia
In 1924, newly-arrived American Baha’is John Henry Hyde Dunn and Clara Dunn visited Perth along with the first Australian Baha’i woman, Effie Baker. Spending four months in the Western Australian ...
‘Unwavering devotion’: Remembering the life of Baha’i Aflatoon Payman
Aflatoon Payman – a Persian Baha’i who pioneered to Australia from Indonesia with his family in the mid-1960s and later served on the National Spiritual Assembly, and as the first Deputy ...