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The Federal Parliament’s House of Representatives will debate a Motion calling on the Australian Government to recognise the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek Genocides on Monday, reports the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).

This major leap in recognition follows in the footsteps of the historic 2018 motion which recgonised the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides through the prism of Australia's first major international humanitarian relief effort, which was to aid survivors of the genocides of 1915.

The Motion, which is being moved by Trent Zimmerman (MP for North Sydney) proposes that the Australian government uphold its commitment to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by recognising “the genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923 of Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks and other Christian minorities…”.

This motion comes 22 months following the launch of the Joint Justice Initiative which featured the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), Assyrian National Council – Australia (ANC) and Australian Hellenic Council (AHC), which declares Australia's recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides as a priority on behalf of their communities.

Since then, over 40 Federal parliamentarians have joined the Joint Justice Initiative pledging to support calls for national recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides.