In this chapter I sketch the colonial milieu of Australian anthropology, focusing in particular on the historical roots of the bifurcation between Aboriginalist and Melanesianist ethnography. Following a historical overview which highlights the politico-economic background for the emergence and academic establishment of anthropology in Australia, I offer a selective discussion of some important contributions to the wider discipline that emerged from Australian academia. The specific case study of Australian anthropology provides ground for wider reflections on the not straightforward entanglement between the theoretical disciplinary concerns and colonial (and neo-colonial) interests and forms of governance.