Curriculum Links

Curriculum Content Description Elaborations Resources
Humanities and Social Sciences (History): Experiences of Australian democracy and citizenship, including the status and rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, migrants, women and children (ACHASSK135)
  • investigating the lack of citizenship rights for Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Australia, illustrated by controls on movement and residence, the forcible removal of children from their families leading to the Stolen Generations, and poor pay and working conditions
  • investigating the stories of individuals or groups who advocated or fought for rights in twentieth-century Australia
  • investigating the experiences of democracy and citizenship of children who were placed in orphanages, homes and other institutions (for example, their food and shelter, protection, education and contacts with family)

Curriculum Content Description Elaborations Resources
History: The extension of settlement, including the effects of contact (intended and unintended) between European settlers in Australia and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACDSEH020)
  • explaining the effects of contact (for example, the massacres of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; their killing of sheep; the spread of European diseases) and categorising these effects as either intended or unintended
  • investigating the forcible removal of children from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in the late nineteenth century/early twentieth century (leading to the Stolen Generations), such as the motivations for the removal of children, the practices and laws that were in place, and experiences of separation.

Curriculum Content Description Elaborations Resources
History: Background to the struggle of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples for rights and freedoms before 1965, including the 1938 Day of Mourning and the Stolen Generations (ACDSEH104)
  • describing accounts of the past experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed from their families
History: The significance of the following for the civil rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: 1962 right to vote federally; 1967 Referendum; Reconciliation; Mabo decision; Bringing Them Home Report (the Stolen Generations), the Apology (ACDSEH104)
  • describing the aims, tactics and outcomes of a particular event in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' struggle for rights and freedoms
History: The continuing nature of efforts to secure civil rights and freedoms in Australia and throughout the world, such as the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) (ACDSEH143)
  • identifying areas (for example, education, health, work) that are the focus for continued civil rights action for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
  • investigating the legacy of children’s experiences in ‘care’ (their placement in orphanages, Children’s Homes, foster care and other forms of out-of-home care), and the significance of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990)
Historical Skills: Analysis and use of sources: Identify the origin, purpose and context of primary and secondary sources(ACHHS187) Bringing Them Home Report (1997) and the significance of that context in understanding responses to the report (with varying perspectives)

Curriculum Content Description Resources
Historical Skills  
Modern History:
  • Identify links between events to understand the nature and significance of causation, change and continuity over time (ACHMH047)
  • Use historical terms and concepts in appropriate contexts to demonstrate historical knowledge and understanding (ACHMH048)
  • Formulate, test and modify propositions to investigate historical issues (ACHMH049)
  • Frame questions to guide inquiry and develop a coherent research plan for inquiry (ACHMH050)
  • Identify, locate and organise relevant information from a range of primary and secondary sources (ACHMH051)
  • Practise ethical scholarship when conducting research (ACHMH052)
  • Identify the origin, purpose and context of historical sources (ACHMH053)
  • Analyse, interpret and synthesise evidence from different types of sources to develop and sustain a historical argument (ACHMH054)
  • Evaluate the reliability, usefulness and contestable nature of sources to develop informed judgements that support a historical argument (ACHMH055)
  • Analyse and account for the different perspectives of individuals and groups in the past (ACHMH056)
  • Develop texts that integrate appropriate evidence from a range of sources to explain the past and to support and refute arguments (ACHMH059)
Historical Knowledge and Understanding  
Modern History: Movements for Change in the 20th Century
Recognition and rights of indigenous peoples
  • The nature of the relationship of indigenous peoples with their land and their response to perceptions of, and feelings about, the arrival of the colonisers (ACHMH070)
  • The basis on which the colonists claimed sovereignty and imposed control, including conquest, treaty and the doctrine of ‘terra nullius’; and the consequences for the legal status and land rights of Indigenous peoples (ACHMH071)
  • The nature of government policies and their impact on indigenous peoples, for example protection, assimilation (including the Stolen Generations), and self-determination (ACHMH072)
  • The role of individuals and groups who supported the movement for indigenous recognition and rights, including the methods they used and the resistance they encountered (ACHMH073)
  • The economic, political and social challenges and opportunities indigenous peoples have faced, including the role of cultural activity in developing awareness in society (ACHMH074)
  • The achievements of indigenous peoples at the end of the 20th century, including the right to vote, land rights/native title, and attempt at reconciliation (ACHMH075)
  • The continued efforts to achieve greater recognition, reconciliation, civil rights, and improvements in education and health (ACHMH076)
Modern History: Modern Nations in the 20th Century
Australia 1918-1949 (End of WWI – Election of Menzies)
  • The adjustment of national priorities in the 1920s, including the tensions between urbanisation, industrialisation and rural development; the difficulties of soldier settlement; the exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples; and the changing role of women (ACHMH121)
  • The key features of post-war reconstruction, including industrialisation, immigration, the provision of social welfare, and attitudes and policies towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and women (ACHMH125)