Under the shadow of World War II, Australia began to form its own foreign policy, separate from the British Empire. A legation in China was Australia’s third foreign outpost.
Education Minister Alan Tudge has rejected the draft history curriculum. He wants students to learn that ‘we live in the greatest country on Earth’. That’s not history. It’s jingoistic nationalism.
Author Hannah Kent’s new novel is a beautifully crafted look at the 19th century Old Lutherans who migrated from Prussia to the colony of South Australia.
Most of our knowledge on songlines comes from central and northern Australia. Now, a songline from north Victoria, reaching up the NSW coast is being reawakened.
Discovery of AFL founder Tom Wills’ involvement in the mass murder of Aboriginal people has made it clear truth telling about Australia’s history is needed before any reconciliation can happen.
I thought I had uncovered a feminist heroine, but for all her intrepid and gutsy behaviour, Lock held intensely socially conservative views in line with her religious conviction.
Opportunities to give voice to Aboriginal people in prison have the potential to address the growing impacts of racism in the justice system in Australia.
Exclusion has been central to utopian ideas of Australia since before Federation. It still lingers. To progress in this climate-challenged century, Australia’s foundational wrongs must be righted.
Mould, dodging mine shafts, sleeping in beds of dried leaves: Mary Anne Allen’s diary offers a fascinating glimpse of family life on the goldfields in 1852.
Outnumbered 200 to one and using traditional weapons, Tongerlongeter and his warriors drove the colony to desperate measures. In other wars his self-sacrifice would have earned him a medal.
History isn’t just learning facts. Students learn about the past by researching information and synthesising it to form an evidence-based argument. This skill is useful for a range of careers.
Along with firearms and disease, the horse was a key element in occupying Aboriginal land during the colonial period and controlling the largely convict workforce on the frontier.
When Britain legislated to abolish slavery in 1833, some former slave owners moved to the Australasian colonies. New research traces this movement of people, money and ideologies.
Gwoja Tjungurrayi features on our $2 coin and was the first living Australian to feature on a postage stamp. It turns out he made his stamp debut much earlier.
She was a feted opera singer, and Australia’s first celebrity. But there were many sides to Nellie Melba, a complex, clever businesswoman with a rather contemporary take on fame.