Humanities and social sciences / Year 6 / Knowledge and Understanding / History

Curriculum content descriptions

The contribution of individuals and groups to the development of Australian society since Federation (ACHASSK137)

Elaborations
  • examining population data that show the places of birth of Australia’s people at one or more points of time in the past and today
  • investigating the role of specific cultural groups in Australia’s economic and social development (for example, the cattle industry, the Snowy Mountains Scheme, the pearling industry)
  • considering notable individuals in Australian public life across a range of fields (for example, the arts, science, sport, education), including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, a range of cultural and social groups, and women and men drawn from the National Living Treasures list, the Australian Dictionary of Biography or the Australian Honours lists)
  • considering the contribution of groups and organisations in the development of Australia in the twentieth century (for example, the CSIRO, environmental action groups, farming cooperatives)
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • Intercultural understanding Intercultural understanding
  • Personal and social capability Personal and social capability
ScOT terms

Aboriginal history,  Torres Strait Islander history,  Australian history,  Migration,  Active citizenship

Video

Benalla Migrant Camp

While many postwar immigrants were sent to Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre when they arrived in Australia, others lived at the smaller Benalla Migrant Camp. Like Bonegilla, Benalla is in north-east Victoria. Unlike at Bonegilla, however, many immigrants remained at Benalla for over a decade. Listen as Sabine ...

Video

Welcome to Bonegilla Migrant Camp

Following World War II, the Australian government was eager to increase the country’s population. The war reminded Australians that their small population would not withstand an enemy invasion. Further, a larger workforce was needed to develop the postwar economy. European people, many displaced by the war and the spread ...

Video

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

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. ...

Text

Sikh and Indian Australians: Year 6 Teaching Resource

This resource provides opportunities to explore both immigrant experiences and the changing policies of the Commonwealth Government toward Asian migrants and refugees from 1901 until the present. Many examples of migrant experiences are drawn from the Australian Sikh community. The stages of the changing migration policy ...

Interactive

Discovering democracy: Federation timeline

Use a timeline to find information about significant events and ideas in the establishment of a federated Australia. Nominate specific years or scroll from 1788 to 1901 to see what steps were key in determining the nature of government in Australia.

Interactive

Gold rush: level 2

Dig for gold on the Ballarat goldfields in 1865. Try your luck at alluvial or shaft mining. Buy a miner's permit, tools and enough supplies to last a month. Discover how hard life was on the goldfields. Explore a map showing the countries migrants left to join the gold rush in Australia. Find out which towns developed due ...

Image

'Southern Sun' above Sydney Harbour Bridge, 1931

This is a gelatin silver-toned composite photograph measuring 32 cm x 25.5 cm, created by E.W. Searle. The Avro-10 Southern Sun plane piloted by Charles Ulm celebrated the arrival in Sydney of aviatrix Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Amy Johnson had crash landed in Brisbane and was flown ...

Image

Using a pedal wireless transmitter

This is a photograph, possibly taken by John Flynn (1880-1951) and measuring 8.2 cm x 8.2 cm, of an elderly woman seated at a pedal wireless transmitter with three girls behind her. There is no microphone but the woman is operating a morse key. The woman and one of the girls are wearing earphones. The words 'AIM Pedal Transmitter' ...

Image

'Cradling, Forrest Creek', 1853

This is an 1853 hand-coloured lithographic print, entitled 'Cradling. Forrest Creek'. It was made by Samuel Thomas Gill (1818-80) from a sketch done on the spot as he watched gold miners cradle for gold at Forest Creek (as it was more commonly spelled), in Victoria. One miner scoops water into the cradle, while the other ...

Image

'Panorama of Challicum, No. VI', c1850

This is a watercolour measuring 17.2 cm x 26.2 cm showing the twin peaks of Mount Langi Ghiran rising behind the smaller tip of Conical Hill. Two distant mountains on the right are Ben Nevis and Mount Buangor. A camp of Indigenous Djapwurrong people, consisting of two bark and wood dwellings, is situated on the edge of ...

Image

'Aquarius 1841'

This is a pen, ink and crayon drawing, measuring 18.8 cm x 26.8 cm, of a man driving a horse and cart, on the back of which is a full water barrel. Buildings and trees are sketched in the background and at the top right is a set of signalling flagpoles. A handwritten inscription at the bottom of the picture reads: 'Aquarius ...

Image

An exhibition home made of fibrolite, c1930s

This is a black-and-white photograph of the exterior of an exhibition home made of fibrolite (fibro-cement) that was constructed by James Hardie and Co Ltd (now known as James Hardie Industries). The street outside the home is crowded with people, some of whom have come to view the fibrolite home. The photograph measures ...

Interactive

Magna Carta: The story of our freedom

This is a resource about the Magna Carta (Great Charter) agreed between King John and his rebellious barons in 1215, and its influence on the development of human rights and democratic freedoms to the present day. The resource consists of an animated chronological infographic, a video (4:11 min) with audio description and ...

Interactive

Sustainable transport – sustainability action process (Years 3–6)

This sustainable transport learning resource will guide students through an extended school based investigation. Students will develop and implement a chosen sustainability action and then evaluate and reflect on their success and their learning.

Text

Women's suffrage

This is a website about the women’s suffrage movement in Victoria in the 19th and 20th century. The resource tells stories of how Victorian women won the right to vote, key participants in the movement, the 1891 Monster Petition, and commemorative activities marking the 2008 centenary of the right for Victorian non-Indigenous ...

Video

A sensory experience

This is a website about how the treatment and mainstream understanding of deaf and blind people has changed over time. Students are invited to engage with the stories of individuals, events and artefacts of deaf and blind communities such as the Adult Deaf and Dumb Society of Victoria. The resource includes links, images, ...

Downloadable

Commemorating Anzac through engaging learning

This resource supports quality teaching and learning through specific curriculum learning opportunities to engage students, as well as enhancing whole school and community interactions and events commemorating Anzac. Part of the Bringing communities together series in response to the NSW State Anzac Centenary.

Interactive

Waste and materials – sustainability action process (Years 3–6)

This resource guides students through an extended school-based or local investigation focussed on waste and materials using the five-step sustainability action process. The resource supports the investigation of a real-world issue or problem. Students develop and implement a chosen sustainability action and then evaluate ...

Interactive

Endeavour – eight days in Kamay

This learning and teaching resource provides a range of viewpoints and works to challenge current perceptions of the arrival of Captain James Cook and the HMB Endeavour at Kamay Botany Bay in 1770. It is an inclusive resource, placing value on the Aboriginal perspective to "balance the history books" by looking both from ...