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Listed under:  History  >  Historical inquiry  >  Historical sources  >  Primary sources
Video

Stateline TAS: Aunty Ida West: Tasmanian Aboriginal Elder, 1995

Imagine being told not to speak your own language to your family and friends. Even worse, imagine being told that your whole culture had vanished, when you know it has not. These challenges were faced by Aboriginal people in the 20th century. In this clip, discover how Aunty Ida West's background and life experiences forged ...

Video

Four Corners: Home sweet home: the 'Australian Dream', 1968

Would you rather live in a freestanding house on a large block in an outer suburb or in an apartment with the convenience of being closer to the city centre? This clip from a 1968 Four Corners program explores the 'Australian Dream' of home ownership and attempts to discover why it became so important to the post-World ...

Video

Flashez: Teenage drinking in the 1970s

Do you think that Australian teenagers drink too much alcohol? If so, do you think this is a new problem? Discover what teenagers thought about such drinking back in the 1970s. This ABC program from 1977 looks at the issue of teenage drinking, some possible reasons for it and some of the social problems arising from it.

Video

ABC Open: Observing a minute's silence on Anzac Day

Why do we observe a minute's silence during Anzac Day ceremonies? Remembrance on Anzac Day has been an important part of Australian culture since the first Anzac Day was observed in 1916. In this clip, residents of Queensland's Gold Coast were asked what they think about during the minute's silence.

Video

Calls for recognition of Indigenous Australians

Discover why many Australians believe the time has come to change the Australian Constitution to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories. This program from January 2012 examines the debate about how this change might be achieved. It looks at the growing call for our constitution to recognise and advance ...

Video

The Fall of Singapore: The fall of Singapore, February 1942

Experience the shock and despair of Australian soldiers on the island of Singapore in February 1942, as Japanese forces invade what was held to be Britain's 'island fortress'. This video follows events from 8 February, when many thousands of Japanese launched attacks from the tip of Malaya, up to 15 February when the British ...

Video

Batavia shipwreck leads to mass murder

In 1629, the Dutch merchant ship Batavia was wrecked off the Western Australian coast near present-day Geraldton. What followed was a tale of mutiny and mass murder on the surrounding islands. Hear from two members of the 1963 expedition that first uncovered the ship's remains, as they visit one of the islands in 2013.

Online

Data in Gapminder world

This resource is a dataset providing data for a number of indicators of development over time for more than 200 countries. The indicators fall into the following categories: population, health, economy, environment, work, infrastructure, energy and education, with over 500 sets of data in total. Each set of data can be ...

Assessment

Year 7 history assessment - Investigating the ancient past: A history mystery

This is an assessment package that uses the Year 7 Australian Curriculum history achievement standard to gather evidence about how well students have demonstrated what they know, what they understand and what they can do for the depth study 'Investigating the Ancient Past' (between 60 000BC–c.650 AD). Using the context ...

Interactive

Old Government House Parramatta virtual tour

This resource is about exploring Governor Macquarie’s preferred residence while learning more about the early colony through this virtual tour of Old Government House at Parramatta.

Online

Research and adopt a veteran

This resource guides teachers through the process of researching the historical records of a Australian First World War veteran. School communities are encouraged to 'adopt' a local veteran. Part of the Bringing communities together series in response to the NSW State ANZAC Centenary.

Online

Attitudes towards Chinese migrants

Students explore in depth what life was like for Chinese immigrants who travelled to Australia in search of gold through comparison and analysis of images, identification of goldfield locations and examining their local community connections with Chinese people. This learning sequence focuses on Australian attitudes toward ...

Online

Chinese Anzacs

This is a website about the experiences of Chinese-Australian soldiers in World War I. It includes: historical facts; a collection of 12 story objects that tell the stories of individuals, events and artefacts; and a Chinese Anzacs Education kit. The kit is comprehensive. The learning activities are presented in five parts, ...

Interactive

A soldier's war: Gallipoli

This Stage 5 resource looks at the Gallipoli campaign through the eyes of soldiers, nurses and the media. Students examine their diaries and letters as well as considering the nature of the warfare and the tactics involved before producing a documentary of the campaign. The resource will support the introduction of the ...

Online

Billy Blue

In this learning activity, students examine images of Billy Blue, a convict who was transported to New South Wales, and use the template provided to write his life story focusing on historical perspective and empathy.

Online

Migration to Australia in the 1800s

This sequence of five activities examines the reasons why people, especially women migrated to Australia. Using the historical inquiry process and primary sources including posters, diary transcripts, a water colour painting and sketches, explore the challenges passengers faced during their voyage to Australia.

Interactive

Charles Bean's war

This Stage 5 resource supports the introduction of the new history syllabus and dovetails with the World War I Centenary commemorative events and publications. The resource encourages students to think about the motives, controls and restrictions that affected Charles Bean's different representations of Australia's role ...

Online

Mary Reibey

This sequence of learning activities focuses on the challenges and contributions made by convict Mary Reibey (1777 - 1885) to the development of early Sydney. Activity one uses primary sources including Mary's convict letter and extracts from her journal for analysis. Activity two includes a biography planner and script ...

Interactive

Off to war: Australia answers the call

This is a Stage 5 resource that looks at the reasons for World War I, the reaction in Australia and the messages promoted by enlistment posters. The resource will support the introduction of the new syllabus and will dovetail with the Anzac Centenary commemorative events and publications.

Interactive

CLab21: The Chinese Question

A collaborative resource engaging students in 21st Century Learning skills supporting the use of Google Apps in the classroom. This Stage 5 History resource examines the experiences of Chinese migrants in Colonial Australia. Students play the role of a committee established to investigate the causes of tension between Chinese ...