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Listed under:  History  >  World history  >  Australian history
Video

The Fall of Singapore: Australians defend Singapore, January 1942

Discover the experiences of Australians who fought a desperate campaign in Malaya at the beginning of 1942, trying to hold back the Japanese army as it advanced toward 'fortress Singapore'. Watch as this video uses original film footage and interviews with veterans to explore the successes and failures of the Malayan campaign ...

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Five Australians: Charles Perkins fights for racial equality

Why is Charles Perkins remembered as a significant leader in the struggle for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples? In this clip, he looks back on two campaigns that brought him to public attention in the 1960s and were part of a wider struggle to end racial discrimination in Australia. This clip ...

Video

Four Corners: Sukarno's collaboration with Japan during WW II, 1966

Imagine that, in order to preserve your freedom, you had to fight alongside your enemy. During World War II, Indonesian nationalists - led by Sukarno - collaborated with Japanese invaders. Richard Oxenburgh's commentary provides a well-argued historical explanation for Sukarno's collaboration with the Japanese in Indonesia.

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Four Corners: Konfrontasi: Indonesia's undeclared war, 1966

How do you distract your citizens from the hardships they face? You give them a common enemy. This clip from 1966 reveals the way in which President Sukarno rallied Indonesians behind an undeclared war against Malaysia, which he painted as a puppet of the United Kingdom.

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Four Corners: Margaret Valadian interviewed in 1967

What is the role of interviewers who explore social issues? In this 1967 clip from Four Corners, Margaret Valadian is recognised as the first Aboriginal Australian graduate of the University of Queensland. Here, in the middle of the panel discussion she is questioned by Robert Moore about her personal and professional life.

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Meet the Fremantle Port Hostesses

In the 1960s, Marie Novak and Pauline Noble worked for the Fremantle Port Authority as hostesses, welcoming new migrants who arrived by ship. Why were hostesses needed? How do Marie and Pauline describe their time as hostesses? Compare the migration experiences of Marie's and Pauline's families. How did their backgrounds ...

Video

Journey into Japan: Japan's shoguns keep everyone in their places

What was the status of each social class in shogunate Japan? During the period from around 1600 to 1868, Japan was a feudal society. As in medieval Europe, each group had its place in a strict social order. Watch this clip to discover the roles of each group during the age when the Tokugawa shoguns ruled the country. This ...

Online

Australia's Trade through Time

Using an interactive timeline created by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, this Teacher guide provides 12 series of learning experiences that engage students in the analysis and interpretation of data about Australian trade from 1900 to the present day. Students study videos, tables, images and texts in order ...

Video

The history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established on the lawns of the Old Parliament House in 1972 only to be forcibly removed a few months later. Why do you think the reporter compares the protest in Canberra to events in Louisiana and Mississippi in USA? What are the protesters chanting? See if you can find out what happened ...

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Royal Australian Mint: learning

This website provides a range of resources and activities and activities for students and teachers about the history of Australian currency, the minting process and Australia's decimal currency. Of note is an interactive slideshow with high resolution images of currencies from Indigenous barter systems to modern Australian ...

Online

Royal Australian Mint Classroom Resources

This teaching and learning unit of work explores Australian coin currencies. Students learn to recognise, describe and order coins according to their values and experiment with counting small coin collections. These activity sheets and resources can be used individually, together, or as part of prepared lessons. Some of ...

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Australian Constitution in focus

The Australian Constitution is the legal framework for how Australia is governed. This article explores in detail the history of the Constitution, its key features and the High Court’s role in interpreting it. The page describes processes for amending the Constitution including through referendum as well as two case studies ...

Interactive

Federal Parliament history timeline

This interactive timeline explores key milestones in the history of Australia's Parliament that led to federation and how the work of Parliament has influenced Australian democratic development since 1901. The timeline allows users to explore the milestones chronologically or follow thematic trails. Selected milestones ...

Online

Significant Individuals - Frank Hurley

In this learning activity, students explore the work of James Francis 'Frank' Hurley and his photographic documentation of historical events. These include the Antarctic expeditions of Mawson and Shackleton, World War I and World War II. Students use primary source material and their own research to prepare an interview ...

Online

Seeing the Land from an Indigenous Canoe

This is website about the significant contribution Aboriginal people made in colonial times by guiding European explorers and colonists, stock and goods across the Victorian river systems. The resource includes introductory information and 31 Story Objects in the format of videos, audio, images and text. Each object also ...

Interactive

What house is that?

This is an interactive streetscape of nine houses, each from a different era and of different styles. They represent the nine main housing styles in Victoria. Information about each of the houses includes: features and style; the Architect; designers; historical observations; house owners; and general social history of ...

Video

Ben Chifley's Australia, 2008

This clip is an excerpt from the documentary 'Infamous victory: Ben Chifley's battle for coal', produced in 2008. This documentary about coal, communism and the Australian Labor prime minister who went to war against his own during the national miners' strike of 1949 is a Screen Australia Making History production, made ...

Video

National treasures, 2004: Gallipoli boat

'Gallipoli boat' is an episode of the series 'National treasures' produced in 2004. The episode features Lifeboat 6, a small lifeboat that was retrieved from Gallipoli five years after it had landed at Anzac Cove. The boat is now held at the Australian War Memorial. Warren Brown describes the difficult conditions on the ...

Video

Ben Chifley: the aftermath of the miners' strike, 2008

This clip is an excerpt from the documentary 'Infamous victory: Ben Chifley's battle for coal', produced in 2008. This documentary about coal, communism and the Australian Labor prime minister who went to war against his own during the national miners' strike is a Screen Australia Making History production, made in association ...

Video

Immigration: fill it or lose it, 1992

This video clip looks at the political forces and propaganda campaigns that tried to fill Australia with 'pure white' immigrants. 'Immigration: fill it or lose it' is an excerpt from the documentary 'Admission impossible' (54 min), produced in 1992. For much of the 20th century, successive Australian governments pursued ...