More than four decades after leaving office, Don Dunstan remains one of the most influential figures in South Australia’s history, remembered not only for reshaping public life through sweeping reforms but also for helping migrant communities find their place within modern Australia.
That legacy was celebrated at Festival Hellenika’s Dunstan’s Children, held at the Hetzel Lecture Theatre in the State Library of South Australia as part of the 2026 South Australian History Festival. The event brought together community leaders, historians and those who experienced the Dunstan era first-hand to reflect on a premier whose vision continues to shape Australian society.
For Festival Hellenika President Dr Adoni Fotopoulos, the decision to honour Dunstan was about recognising a leader whose influence continues to be felt long after his time in office.
“The theme of this year’s South Australian History Festival is Connections,” Fotopoulos told Neos Kosmos.
“We can’t think of a more fitting public figure who connected us all during his tenure to big and bold ideas, ideas that have endured, and that is why we feel compelled to honour his contribution. This is our Big Fat Greek Efharisto!”
“There are people who plant trees whose shade they will never sit under, nor enjoy the sweetness of the fruit they will bear. It is a selfless act for one’s own future community. The pleasure of the person doing the planting lies in the future pleasure for others.”
Dunstan back in the1970s dancing at Glendi. Photo: Supplied
THE VISIONARY THAT TRANSFORMED SOUTH AUSTRALIA
During his years as premier, Dunstan challenged convention and transformed public life. His government introduced anti-discrimination and sex discrimination laws, decriminalised homosexuality, established a Ministry for the Environment, strengthened consumer protections and reformed electoral boundaries through true one-vote-one-value representation. He also advanced women’s rights by appointing Australia’s first female Supreme Court judge, Dame Roma Mitchell, and became a pioneering advocate for Aboriginal rights through landmark legislation and appointments.
“In a world actively enabling obsessive self-fixation, skewed priorities, manufactured urgency and instant gratification, we are living in a time of considerable, perhaps deliberate, historical illiteracy and blindness, a demolishing of heritage and an erosion of civility and philanthropy,” Fotopoulos added.
Mr John Kiosoglous and President of Festival Hellenika Dr Adoni Fotopoulos.
“Don Dunstan was the visionary this state was gifted with to raise an entire population to a higher level, especially those parts of our community whose lives were, up to his tenure, nearly invisible and nearly voiceless. It was his efforts that gave not only our community, but all minority groups a voice, visibility, recognition and a sense of inclusion.”
Dr Jane Lomax-Smith AM, Lord Mayor of Adelaide and Chair of the Don Dunstan Foundation, offered a passionate overview of Dunstan’s trailblazing policies and their lasting impact on Australians. She also spoke about her meeting with Athens Mayor Haris Doukas and Adelaide’s Memorandum of Understanding as a sister city with Athens, aimed at strengthening cooperation in culture, tourism, innovation, commerce and environmental sustainability.
Dunstan back in the1970s leading the dance at Glendi.
THE PHILHELLENE PREMIER
His government elevated multiculturalism, encouraged cultural exchange and pioneered the introduction of Greek language education in South Australian public schools. Greek Inquiry Officers were appointed to assist migrant communities, helping create pathways for participation and representation during a period of significant demographic change.
A committed philhellene, Dunstan admired Hellenic history, learnt Greek, enjoyed Greek dancing and famously dubbed Adelaide the “Athens of the South”, drawing parallels with the cultural and democratic flowering of ancient Athens and what many regarded as a golden age for South Australia.
Festival Hellenika Secretary George Skordas reflected on Dunstan’s impact through the memories of his late father, a Greek school teacher who arrived in Australia during the post-war migration wave.
John Kiosoglous Dr Jane Lomax-Smith George Skordas and Greek Consul of Australia.
“My late father was a Greek school teacher from the 1960s onwards, who would always light up when Don Dunstan was mentioned,” Skordas told Neos Kosmos.
“‘Ahh, o Dunstan, o fillelinas,’ he would say with reverence, aware of Dunstan’s sincere efforts in assisting Greek and other ethnic communities, specifically his support of ethnic schools, as well as his advocacy for working-class people more generally.”
John Kiosoglous MBE, KSA, AE, SM, who acted as a bridge between South Australia’s Greek communities and the Dunstan government during the 1970s, also reflected on the premier’s relationship with migrant communities.
Kiosoglous, who later served as a lawyer and magistrate, highlighted Dunstan’s groundbreaking legal reforms while sharing personal anecdotes and rare insights into the operation of government, ethnic schools, and the Greek and Greek Cypriot communities during a transformative period in South Australian history.
Held under the History Festival’s 2026 theme of Connections, the event reflected the values that defined much of Dunstan’s public life bringing people together, strengthening communities and expanding opportunities for participation in society according to Festival Hellenika’s George Skodras. Photo: Supplied
‘WE ARE ALL DON’S CHILDREN’
Emeritus Professor Han Baltussen spoke about Don Dunstan as a “cultural icon”, describing a leader who believed the arts were essential to quality of life and social equity.
Dunstan founded the South Australian Film Corporation, the State Theatre Company of South Australia and the JamFactory, while supporting the Adelaide Festival Centre and expanding the Adelaide Festival of Arts. Long before the concept became fashionable, he championed “cultural tourism”, promoting South Australia’s food, wine, heritage, arts and lifestyle as drivers of economic and cultural development.
The evening concluded with only a few -but full of gravity- words spoken by Don Dunstan’s son, Andrew, during his father’s eulogy: “We are all Don’s children.”
