One of the oldest Greek voices in Australia, The Greek Herald was always going to be part of this year’s Antipodes Festival on Lonsdale Street, but 2026 carries extra weight. The paper is marking 100 years.
A century in print is rare for any masthead in Australia – rarer still for an independent, multicultural newspaper sustained across generations of publishers, journalists and community supporters.
As crowds streamed through the 38th annual festival, publisher Dimitra Skalkos joined Bill Papastergiadis, President of the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM), on stage to celebrate the centenary.
Founded in 1926 as Panellenios Keryx, the broadsheet set out “to enlighten and educate” Greek migrants in their new homeland. A century on, that commitment to “truth, right and justice to all” still resonates with journalists around Australia, but is especially solid in Melbourne, home to one of the largest Greek communities in the diaspora and a city that has been central to the paper’s print and reporting presence.
It was born in an era when Greek migrants faced isolation, language barriers and economic hardship, becoming both a lifeline and a ledger of the diaspora’s early struggles and aspirations.
“We’ve documented the Greek Australian story of migration right through to today,” Ms Skalkos told the crowd. “We’re very proud of that milestone.”
Over 550,000 pages published since 1926 have chronicled that journey – from early migrant notices and wartime correspondence to political debates, cultural milestones and modern diaspora life.
Few diaspora publications anywhere in the world can claim an uninterrupted 100-year publishing history – fewer still while transitioning from hot-metal print to a modern digital newsroom serving readers across Australia, Greece and beyond.
With International Women’s Day approaching, Ms Skalkos’ appearance carried symbolism. In the early decades of the GCM, women did not have voting rights until the Seventies, 50 years after The Greek Herald was created. Today, half the GCM board are women. A female publisher would once have been unthinkable; now Ms Skalkos leads the country’s largest Greek newspaper and the only diaspora masthead with daily Greek print editions into its second century.
The centenary therefore marks not only institutional endurance, but the evolution of the community itself – from migrant survival to multigenerational leadership.
Her father, Theodore Skalkos, took over the paper in 1971, as Greek Culture Week, the precursor to Antipodes, was gathering pace. Mike Zafiropoulos, one of the instigators of the culture event, worked closely with Mr Skalkos at the time.
The parallels between the rise of Antipodes and the stewardship of the paper reflect how closely the masthead has been woven into the cultural fabric of Melbourne’s Hellenic community.
Over five decades, as the festival evolved into a two-day cultural institution, the paper expanded alongside it, chronicling migration, community milestones, politics and pride.
“A hundred years is an extraordinary achievement,” Papastergiadis said on stage. “Institutions like this don’t just report history, they help create it.”
From a broadsheet with a single English page to a major digital platform launched in 2019, The Greek Herald has bridged languages and generations. At Antipodes, it continued its long-standing role within the festival, reporting from backstage and covering the arrival of political leaders while working with the GCM to highlight the Greek community and Australia’s multicultural story across print and digital platforms.
The official centenary year will culminate in a national commemoration, accompanied by archival projects and a landmark edition honouring the generations who sustained the publication.
More celebrations are planned for May. “We’re preparing something special,” Ms Skalkos said. “Stay tuned.”
One hundred years on, the masthead that once connected new arrivals now connects generations.
A century after its first edition, The Greek Herald remains both witness and participant, chronicling the Greek Australian story while standing firmly within it. On Lonsdale Street, amid the music and moussaka, that legacy felt very much alive.
