Resources for Australia as a nation — race, rights and immigration
The following resources have been used in the development of this unit for History Year 10. Note that lists here include additional resources as suggestions for teachers and you can also download interactive PDF and Word versions of unit worksheets from this page.
Unit home
- Key history concepts from the Australian History Teachers’ Association resource AC History
- Analysing sources (.pdf 190 kB) from the Australian History Teachers’ Association
- The program planner (.pdf 94 kB) proforma to select content, outcomes and activities based on resources in this unit, to plan a teaching and learning program | Word version (.docx 96 kB)
Sequence 1—Migration experiences: Post-War to the 1970s
Changing immigration policies
- The timeline of key immigration events from 1944–1970s
- Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Fact Sheet 1 — Immigration: The Background Part One
- Creating a digital mind map or a mind map sketch.
- Using the Here Now / There Then approach to explore racial discrimination
- Documenting democracy for Immigration Restriction Act 1901 parchment and it’s history
- Sources (cartoons, posters and text) about the White Australia Policy from Glogster
- Examples of the types of passages used in the Dictation Test (National Archives of Australia)
- The Dictation Test
- The history section of Fact Sheet 8 from the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection
- Racism. No way website Fact sheet: The White Australia policy
- Booklet ‘White Australia — Reform?’, from 6 July, 1964 (A current affairs bulletin published at the University of Sydney)
- Arthur Calwell’s ‘Populate or perish’ reasoning behind the post-war migrant recruitment program
Additional resources for teachers
- Definition of racism and racial discrimination
- Information and definition from Racism. No Way!
- White Australia - Worksheet (.doc 67 kB) from Multicultural Australia website
- Book excerpts from Arthur Calwell (1945): How Many Australians Tomorrow? (.pdf 329 kB)
- Political Photographs: Mr A A Calwell at a meeting of State Premiers and Immigration Ministers.
- Displaced Persons: Flinders Ranges Research
Why people migrate
- Booklet ‘Migration and the Refugee’, by the Australian Army Education Service, 12 March, 1945
- What is the difference between migrants and refugees? from the Refugee Council of Australia
- Migrant stories at the Australian National Maritime Museum
- Timeline of migration on the Global Words website
- ‘There’s a welcome “down under” for you’poster
- ‘Australia: land of tomorrow’poster
- ’Australia: A Full Healthy Life’poster
- ‘Australia The Lucky Country’ and other posters
- The Australian skilled migration and recruitment' site, Konnecting
- Timeline 1940s: after the war Museum Victoria
- 1950s - a million post-war immigrants: Image 7– Assisted passage migrants arriving; Image 8–Poster: Promoting 10 pound assisted passage; Image 4–Certificate of Identity, John Neamonitis, Egypt
- 1960s - the end of White Australia looms: Poster: Image 7: Promoting Australia's climate to migrants 1963; Image 8– Immigration Minister Hubert Oppermann signs migration agreement with Germany 1965; Image 9–Chinese New Year Melbourne 1965
- Video clip Our Century: through new eyes
- Culture in Development: What is Cultural Heritage?
- Text on ‘intermarriage’ of cultures as a measure of social cohesion
- Text and inquiry questions on the contribution of migrants — Post war to 1973, based on statistical analysis from the Australian government
- Excerpt from the documentary Admission Impossible
- Video, Immigration Nation Part 1 White Australia Policy
For assessment task
- Worksheet: Mix and match three-dimensional activity (.pdf 132 kB) | Word version (.docx 101 kB)
- Teacher resource: Solution for Mix and match 3D activity
- Digital story with images, text and audio — support
- Interactive timeline — support
- Podcast support — guide to using Audacity software
Additional resources for teachers
- Australian migrant history timeline – 1945–1965 A brief overview with images
- Sydney Morning Herald resource study: The First wave: Beyond White Australia. On April 20, 1947, the Egyptian-registered SS Misr docked in Melbourne with its multicultural human cargo: 624 men, women and children from 26 different countries, plucked from ports in the Mediterranean, Middle East and East Africa. Includes interactive timeline tracing the journey to Australia and passenger stories.
- Public Protest against Calwell’s racist comments: Press Release, 4 May 1972
- National Film and Sound Archive Immigration — The Waves That Shaped Australia: An overview history of migration and the contribution of migrants to Australia, such as the Snowy Mountains Scheme
- James Jupp (2002) From White Australia to Woomera: The story of Australian immigration, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne
- Timeline on key events/developments in racism and anti-racism (Racism. No way)
- Why People Come: Although this is for Levels 1–4 it is relevant and useful support. There is a specific reference to racism as a factor
Sequence 2—Dismantling the White Australia Policy: The 1970s
Dismantling the White Australia policy
- Timeline with historical examples to provide the overview of the decade
- Credo for a Nation (1974) Museum Victoria
- Booklet — A J Grassby, ‘Australia’s Multicultural Society’ (1975)
- Teacher overview of the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act (1975)
- Australia’s obligations under the 1966 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
- the Guide to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975
- Learn how to covert PowerPoint files to Flash with Adobe Presenter
- Timeline: Vietnamese immigration to Australia (Pre 1975-2011) ABC
- Short history of Vietnamese immigration to Australia (.pdf 132 kB) from the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection
- Simple summary and illustration of how Prezi works
- Source: 1970 — refugees from our region, (Image 9: Vietnamese boat people Darwin 1977, Image 11 Indo-Chinese families arriving by plane 1979)
- Source: Vietnamese boat people, Darwin, November 1977 (National Library of Australia, 15 images)
- Source: Once upon a time migration timeline from SBS
- Step Inside: Perceive, Know about, Care about approach to explore images in sources
- Case study: Extract about KG4435 from The Vietnamese Boat People, 1954 and 1975–1992 by Nghia M Vo
- SBS Report Lam Tac Tam recount
- Creating newspapers in the classroom — support
- Newspaper templates — support
- Google newspaper templates — support
- Design a web page with Tools 4U Microsoft Word 2007 — support
- Case study: Migration experience of Mai Ho Museum Victoria
- Case study: Profile of Hieu Van Le and inquiry questions
- Hieu Van Le: Thoughts on cultural heritage
- Hieu Van Le: First experiences of Australia
- Hieu Van Le: Recognising government support
- Hieu Van Le: Short-term challenges
- The full speech (.pdf 56 kB) by Hieu Van Le
- Leaving Cambodia stories of Pol Pot survivors
- Ming Tam Nguyen’s life as a refugee to Australia linked to his favorite musical instrument: the object and his story (National Museum of Australia)
- Submission ‘Australia as a Multicultural Society’ (.pdf 438 kB) to the Australian Population and Immigration Council
New Humanitarian program in action
- History of immigration from East Timor (Museum Victoria)
- Photograph of East Timorese refugees arriving in Darwin in 1975 (National archives)
In extension activities
- Crossword, Cloze passage and Word finder worksheets on the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act (1975) at Racism. No way
- Cartoon about multiculturalism and immigration by Bruce Petty
Additional resources for teachers—Sequence 2
- Media analysis: The Vietnamese boat people issue Inside Story – After the exodus (January 2009) by Bruce Grant, former diplomat and author of The Boat People (1979) looks back at the political context in Australia and the significance of the Vietnamese boat arrivals: Useful context for the teacher.
- Jakubowicz, Andrew (2004) ‘Vietnamese in Australia: a generation of settlement and adaptation’, University of Technology, Sydney
- Student website presentations on post war immigration to Australia from Vietnam
- The Tu Do ('Freedom') and the Lu Family (1977): Students can explore the journey out to Australia of the Lu family on the boat symbolically named the Tu Do (‘Freedom’). Also read Hien Nguyen’s short comment on the accompanying Message board in response to the story.
- 1973: A Grassby, A Multi-Cultural Society for the Future (.pdf 400 kB) speech made at the Cairnmillar Institute’s Symposium Strategy: Australia for Tomorrow, 11 August 1973
- The Galbally Report 1978 (.pdf 353 kB) — Review of Post Arrival Programs and Services for Migrants, Migrant Services and Programs, Canberra, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1978, pages 3–13, and 15–28
- Overview of the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs by Professor Andrew Jakubowicz
- The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (with amendments up to 2009)
- Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Wikipedia)
Sequence 3—Multiculturalism and immigration in the 1980s and 1990s
Defining multicultural Australia
- Worksheet: Timeline of 1980s-90s immigration (.pdf 101 kB) | Word version (.docx 10 kB)
- Teacher version of the Australian immigration timeline 1980s and 90s
- Text and podcast: Is diversity a danger to the nation? (Teacher reference)
- Professor Blainey speech reported in The Standard, 1984
- Headlines in newspapers about Blainey’s comments
- Extract from Hansard: The government’s reply (.pdf 203 kB) in Parliament on 8 May 1984
- Mick Young comments on fears about Asian immigration and the end of the White Australia policy (1995)
- Extract from ‘Human rights and the Blainey debate’ in Australian Multiculturalism: A Documentary History and Critique, by Lois E Foster
- The 3-2-1 Bridge approach (teaching strategy)
- The Report of the National Inquiry into Racist Violence 18 April 1991 (.pdf 303 kB)
- The worksheet (.pdf 117 kB) for the activity on the report above | Word version (.docx 100 kB)
Promoting immigration, multiculturalism and anti-racism
- Source: The ‘Bring out a Briton’ scheme (Museum Victoria)
- Source: ‘£10 Pom Scheme’ (Powerwhouse Museum)
- Source: The pull factors of the Australian the nation (Museum Victoria)
- The poster as an historical source (information)
- Poster: Same Make Different Model, Harmony Day, Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, circa 1998–1999.
- Poster: Harmony Day, Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, circa 1998-1999
- Poster: Australia: Live, Work and Play in Natural Harmony, Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, circa 1990s
- Poster: Australia: Look Towards a New Business Future, Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, circa 1990s
- Poster: Racism. It stops with me (.pdf 101 KB)
- Poster: Adam Goodes (.pdf 184 kB) campaign information pack (.pdf 1.1MB)
- Posters: Anti-Discrimination Board (NSW)
For assessment task
- Information on Australia’s Humanitarian Program: 2013–14 Consultations
- Information paper on Australia’s Humanitarian Program 2013–14 and beyond (.pdf 211 KB)
Additional resources for teachers—Sequence 3
- Human rights in Australia (Wikipedia)
- ‘Asian migration a tour de force’ The Age 2011. The graph shows a comparison of European, British and Asian migration trends from 1947 to 2010
- Terry Collits (1984) Geoffrey Blainey’s Bad Language: Racist Discourse and the Immigration Debate, Meanjin, Number 3 (1984), pp. 385-392
- Gavin Jones (1997) ‘Australian identity’, racism and recent responses to Asian Immigration to Australia (.pdf 201 KB) Australian National University. A study of demographics and historical trends
- Christian Joppke (2003) The resilience of Non-Discriminatory Immigration policies: Evidence from the United States and Australia (.pdf 80 kB) Russell Sage Foundation. Includes a review of the Blainey Debate (pages 10–12)
- Mongrel Nation on ABC Radio National has six episodes pertinent to multiculturalism, and can also offer a useful narrative for teachers.
Additional resources with activities that relate to the historical chronology of Sequence 3
- 1980 Multiculturalism takes effect — Image 8: Chilean immigrants welcomed by their local community
- 1990s One in four born overseas Image 9: Dispelling the myths of immigration
- Cambodian and Laotian immigration to Australia: The civil war in Cambodia in the late 1970s led to the deaths of about one million Cambodians under the Khmer Rouge regime. Thousands fled their homeland and sort refuge in other parts of Asia and Australia. Refugees from conflicts in Laos
- 1986 Jupp Report (.pdf 329 kB). Review of Migrant and Multicultural Programs and Services, Committee for Stage 1, Don’t settle for less — report of the committee: summary, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra
- 1988 Fitzgerald Report (.pdf 291 kB) Committee to Advise on Australia’s Immigration Policies, Immigration
- 1989 The Tiananmen Incident. The Australian response to the pro-democracy protests and the Tiananmen Square incident of 1989 for Chinese students in Australia is another example of a crisis which influenced immigration policy: Children of the Revolution: Sydney Morning Herald —story traced from the immediate reaction by the Hawke government and the positive long term impact on the students and Australia.
- 1992 Migration Reform Bill: Changes to Migration Act for refugees
- One Nation (1996): Immigration policy and multiculturalism were once again under public discussion when the leader of the One Nation Party, Pauline Hanson, expressed concern about levels of migration from Asia. Focus: The One nation policies and racism; reactions to Hanson's policies in the late 1990s. Review, critically analyse and discuss selected sections of the following documents: In 80 days which changed our lives: Pauline Hanson forms One Nation; A review of Hansonism and the late 1990s: A comprehensive summary of key issues and events by Parliament. Be aware that the blogs which follow video clips on Hansonism have very problematic comments and confronting language.
- 1997 The Hong Kong Handover to China. As the British prepared to hand back Hong Kong to China some Hong Kong residents sought citizenship elsewhere, away from a life in what would become a communist province: BBC, Hong Kong handover to China; Wikipedia entry, Waves of migration from Hong Kong; ABC Lateline program 2007, Reverse migration
- 1999–2014— The Harmony Day legacy: Briefly review the nature of the work today.
Sequence 4—Shaping multicultural Australia since 2000
Asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and human rights
- Fact Sheet from Racism. No Way!
- Asylum seekers and refugees guide
- Background information on refugees and asylum seekers (Refuggee Week website)
- Migration program outcomes since 1985
- Humanitarian program 2008–2013 information and inquiry questions as a guide.
- Fact Sheet 60 — ‘Australia’s Refugee and Humanitarian Program’
- Refugees in Australia
- Graph comparing Australia and other countries for irregular arrivals by sea
- Planned migrant numbers and actual numbers for 1996–2011
- Asylum statistics Australia — March quarter 2013: key statistics including graphs showing trends
- Australia and Refugee Trends 2002–12 Guardian newspaper
- Australian Migration Program Report 2012–2013 (.pdf 484 kB) Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection
- The definition of mandatory detention
- Key human rights obligations
- ABC Fact Check — Children in detention (April 4 2014)
- Inside Detention: ABC Behind the News video
- Circle of Viewpoints approach (Teaching strategy)
- Source: 80 days that changed our lives — The Tampa: Includes an ABC television report
- Source: A student’s view of the Tampa incident: Year 8 student Katharine Gentry
- Source: What was the Tampa Crisis and its aftermath? (Justice Project)
- What is in a name? list of Immigration Department titles since 1945
- Worksheet: The Border Protection Bill 2012 in your words (.pdf 158 kB) | Word version (103 kB)
- History and key features of the Border Protection Bill (Parliament Papers)
- Graph of arrivals of people in Australia without visas
- BBC News report on the Asylum seekers boat wreck at Christmas Island
- Report of the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers (2012) (.pdf 360 kB)
- Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) analysis of the report (.pdf 305 kB)
- Migration legislation amendment Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection
- Human rights implications Migration Legislation Amendment (Regional Processing and other Measures) Bill 2012 (Castan Centre for Human Rights Law)
- Counter People Smuggling Communication Australian Customs
The Cronulla Riots 2005 — conflict in society
- Teacher resource: Contemporary challenges — Commonwealth Parliamentary Library review of Multiculturalism).
- Student support: Assigning significance guide (.pdf 115 kB) from the History Teachers’ Association of Australia (AHTA)
- Student support: Concepts in Practice – Secondary (.pdf 161 kB) (AHTA)
- Overview from Lines in the sand
- Worksheet: Cronulla Riots investigation worksheet (.pdf 95 kB) | Word version (.docx 101 kB)
- Strike Force Neil Report (.pdf 20.4 MB) (pages referenced for source material in this part of Sequence 4: 9, 38,–44, 50–56)
- Reporting Notebook approach (Teaching strategy)
- Source: Reaction to ‘Life-savers’ incident
- Source: Racialisation of immigrant youth
- Source: Role of the media 1
- Source: Role of the media 2
- Source: Newspaper article: ‘Let’s take back our beaches’, December 10, 2005
- Redfern riot or Macquarie Field riot comparison with Cronulla
- Source: Newspaper article ‘Mob violence envelops Cronulla’ December 11, 200
- Video: ABC Four Corners Riot and revenge (Note that this video contains course language and some violent scenes)
- Newspaper survey — What caused the Cronulla riot?
- Newspaper article ‘Making sense of a black day’, The Age, December 13 2005
- Newspaper article ‘A Nation’s line in the sand’ Sydney Morning Herald 21 January, 2014
- On the Same Wave program
- 80 days that Changed Our Lives: Communities clash violently at Cronulla
- Newspapaer article ‘Cronulla Five Years on’ The Monthly, December 2010
In extension activities Sequence 4
- The Tampa Affair — 10 Years on, Sydney Morning Herald web feature, including ‘Tampa — historical’ (slidewhow)
- Source: Reporting diversity — The Cronulla Riots (.pdf 468 kB). Critical analysis of the media reporting of the Cronulla Riots in The Australian, Daily Telegraph and Sydney Morning Herald (Journalism in multicultural Australia case study)
- Source: Talkback Radio: an emotional homeland and heartland (.pdf 455 kB) research report by Jacqi Ewart
Additional resource for Sequence 4
- Tim Soutphommasane (2012) Don’t Go Back To Where You Came From: Why Multiculturalism Works, Newsouth Books: contains a history of Australian multiculturalism, an explanation of multicultural policy, an account of racism in contemporary Australia, and also an overview of the debate about asylum seekers.
Unit home – History Year 10 | Sequence 1 | Sequence 2 | Sequence 3 | Sequence 4