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Damper is traditionally an Australian unleavened and unrisen bread. Made with flour, salt, and water, it is kneaded and shaped into a round mass before being baked in the hot coals of an open camp fire.
During colonial times it was a staple food in the bush because the dry ingredients could be easily carried by stockmen and drovers in remote areas. They needed to add only water to make the damper, and often served it with tea made in a cylindrical billy or billycan, a lightweight hanging pot with a close-fitting lid.
The fortunate traveller perhaps had the luxury of a heavy cast-iron camp oven, to bake their damper rather than grilling it; the truly sybaritic added baking powder and butter to the dough.
The origin of the term 'damper' is uncertain. It could refer to the damping of the flour, or to something which takes of the edge of the appetite.
The OED supports the second idea with historical quotations.
