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Listed under:  Society  >  Citizenship  >  Politics  >  Political independence  >  Federation
Video

The House In Session, Ep 3: The Westminster system and borrowed traditions

Annabel Crabb explains the interesting traditions that the Parliament of Australia has borrowed from the parliament of Westminster in the United Kingdom. Who is Black Rod, and what is a serjeant-at-arms? What is the Mace, and why is a hood placed over it when entering the presence of the Governor-General? And why would ...

Video

Why Australia wanted a White Australia policy

The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 was designed to limit non-British immigration to Australia. It came to be known as the White Australia policy. In some quarters, people of non-British (and especially non-European) heritage were regarded as being inferior, greedy or unable to fit in with dominant Australian society. ...

Video

BTN: What is a referendum?

Watch this video to find out how Australia became a Federation. What happened in 1897?  What things stayed the same, and what things changed when Australia became a Federation? What is a referendum? There have been many others held in Australia since this early one. Do some research and find out what other issues Australians ...

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Journeys and Connections

This resource displays objects related to stories of migration to Australia. Students locate and research relevant objects in their own community and create a digital story of migration. The resource uses objects from the Australian Journeys exhibition at the National Museum of Australia.

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Pacific Islander labourers in the Mackay District, late 1800s

This posed black-and-white photograph shows indentured Pacific Islanders by their grass hut homes, probably on a Mackay sugar plantation in Queensland. Some are seated on logs or rough timber benches and one woman can also be seen. They are dressed in Western-style clothes. More huts can be seen on the cleared rise in the ...

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Invitation to Commonwealth celebrations, 1901

This is a coloured printed invitation to a conversazione celebrating the Commonwealth of Australia. It measures 30.2 cm x 37 cm. At the bottom is the wording, 'THE GOVERNMENT OF VICTORIA requests the honor of the presence of Mr W J Ferguson MLA and Mrs Ferguson at a Conversazione in the Exhibition Building on the Evening ...

Online

Royal Australian Mint: units of work

This suite of teaching and learning units of work related to Australian currencies for middle and upper primary students. The units explore the role coins play in commemoration and the history of Australian currency from colonial times to post Federation. Lessons are supplemented with a range of cross-curriculum lesson ideas.

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 ...

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

Making a Nation: a system of representation

This interactive resource allows students to discover the development of Australia from six separate colonies to a federated nation. Students investigate, through a variety of documents, cartoons, maps and photographs, the factors that contributed to Federation, the powers of the federal parliament, what representative ...

Video

Interviews With 10 Australian Authors, Ch 8: Experience colonial Australia with Tom Keneally

Thomas Keneally likes to put himself in the shoes of figures from history, whether it's as a member of the SS or an Indigenous man treated unjustly, and ask ‘What would I have done?' In this interview he discusses why he was drawn to the Jimmie Governor story and the significance of the looming Federation of Australia.

Audio

Radio National: Sir Henry Parkes's Tenterfield Oration, 1889

What role did Henry Parkes play in the federation of Australia? Listen to a re-enactment of Sir Henry Parkes's famous 1889 speech in Tenterfield, known as the Tenterfield Oration. Note in particular the arguments Parkes used to gain political support.

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: Edmund Barton

Find out more about Edmund Barton, Australia's first prime minister and drafter of the constitution. Examine two different types of biographies of Barton: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: ...

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: James Howe

Find out more about James Howe, the father of the Commonwealth old-age pension. Examine two different types of biographies of Howe: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation people' series.

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: George Reid

Find out more about George Reid, premier of New South Wales and prime minister of Australia. Examine two different types of biographies of Reid: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation ...

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: Rose Scott

Find out more about Rose Scott, a fighter for women’s rights and an opponent of Federation. Examine two different types of biographies of Scott: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how she was visually depicted in her time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation ...

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: James Dickson

Find out more about James Dickson, premier of Queensland and a late federalist. Examine two different types of biographies of Dickson: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation people' series.

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: John Downer

Find out more about John Downer, federalist and premier of South Australia. Examine two different types of biographies of Downer: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation people' series.

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: John Forrest

Find out more about John Forrest, federalist and premier of Western Australia. Examine two different types of biographies of Forrest: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation people' series.

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: Robert Garran

Find out more about Robert Garran, federalist and Commonwealth public servant. Examine two different types of biographies of Garran: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation people' series.