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Daniel A. Elias is an Australian historian, unionist, and community organiser based in Fremantle, Western Australia. He is a doctoral candidate researching the social and industrial history of the Western Australian waterfront, and is active in trade union and community organising in the Fremantle area.
Education and doctoral research
Elias is a PhD candidate at the University of Western Australia (2020–present). His doctoral research is a political economy and social history of Fremantle through the perspective of maritime workers, 1890s–1920s.
His published work on the topic has included a two-part feature on the Fremantle lumpers and the 1899 strike, and an extract from his thesis introduction dealing with the longer history of maritime industrial action in the colony, from an 1845 work stoppage at Bathers Beach through the whaling industry, the Master and Servant Acts, and the 1847 Breach of Contracts Ordinance.
He holds a Master of Philosophy (History & Politics) from the University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle (2017–2020), and a Bachelor of Arts (History and Politics), also from Notre Dame Fremantle (2013–2017).
Academic and editorial roles
Since November 2020, Elias has worked as a Research Officer and Tutor at the University of Notre Dame Australia. He has guest lectured for the School of Arts & Sciences. His work there has included research on disability service provision and the NDIS, analysis of state and federal electoral acts, and contributions to the anthology The Archive Hunter: Life and Work of Leslie Marchant.
Elias served as Submission Editor and Chairperson of Limina: A Journal of Historical and Cultural Studies from April 2023 to February 2026, editing submissions and organising the journal's associated academic conferences.
Earlier in his career, Elias worked as an Electorate Officer for the Member for Jandakot, Labor MLA Yaz Mubarakai, in WA's Department of the Premier and Cabinet (October 2017 – November 2019).
Trade union and community activism
Elias has been a Branch Committee member and workplace delegate for the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) at the University of Notre Dame Australia since November 2020, including a period as Branch Secretary from 2020 to 2025. He has worked on the branch's enterprise bargaining team. He is now Vice President of the Branch and is employed by the union as an Industrial Organiser.
Elias was spokesperson and founder of the Anti-War Collective, a Fremantle-based community group formed in response to Australia's involvement in the conflict in Iran, but resigned due to workload issues.
Community and archival work
Elias has been involved with the Fremantle Buffalo Club in multiple capacities. Since August 2024, he has served on the Club's Management Committee as Secretary, and chairs its History Subcommittee, in collaboration with Sam Wilson, Cara Teusner-Gartland, David O'Sullivan, Alex Patching, and Oliver Krumhulz, developing an open-source archive of Fremantle's social clubs.
Selected publications
- Elias, Daniel A. "Is Liberal Democracy a Contradiction?: A study of political participation and inequality in Australia during the 1960s and 1970s." Master of Philosophy dissertation, University of Notre Dame Australia, 2020.
- Elias, Daniel A. "Marchant and the Pilbara Walk-Off"; "Liberal Patriotism and the Westminster Tradition"; "Marchant and the Constitutional Conventions of Australia." In The Archive Hunter: Life and Work of Leslie Marchant, edited by Deborah Gare. Report, University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, 2021.
- Elias, Daniel A. "Cecilia Shelley: The First Australian Woman to Lead a Trade Union." In Knocking the Top Off, Interventions Press, 2023.
- Elias, Daniel A. "Fremantle Lumpers and the Work Stoppage of 1899"; "Tension at the Docks"; "Enough is Enough: Action on Bathers Beach." Fremantle Herald, 2022–2023.
- Elias, Daniel A. "Words of No Consequence." Limina: A Journal of Historical and Cultural Studies 29, no. 1 (2024).
- Elias, Daniel A. "Editor's Introduction." Limina: A Journal of Historical and Cultural Studies, vols. 29–31 (2024–2026), 5 issues.
Conference presentations
- "Social Bonds in Lived Space: How Community Solidarity is Formed and Lost." Limina Conference: On Solidarity, 2024 (also served as MC).
- "A Banquet of Fremantle and Perth's Best Men: Politics of a Migrant Community." Parliamentary Research Symposium, 2023.
- "Every Crisis is an Opportunity: The Formation of Capital and Labour in Late Colonial-era Fremantle." Limina Conference: On Crisis, 2023.
- "The Great Betrayal: A Critique of Liberal Theory." Australian Historical Association Conference, 2018.
References and Links
- Grant, Steve (2022). "Historic find." Fremantle Herald, 19 August.
- Steve Grant Freo leads peace charge 13 March 2026, part of Fremantle Herald
- Elias, Daniel A. 2022, 'Tension on the docks', Fremantle Herald, 30 July, 6 August (Fremantle lumpers and the strike of 1899; in two parts).
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 12 November, 2022 and hosted at freotopia.org/authors/eliasdaniel.html (it was last updated on 13 October, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.