To begin, the ABC has a website dedicated to the Centenary of Federation from 2001 which has all kinds of links dedicated to telling the story of Australian Federation. It also includes an excellent overview of Aboriginal perspectives and the journey towards reconciliation and the 1967 referendum.
The ABC's comprehensive explanation of the process of uniting the colonies, establishing the Australian nation:
2 x fantastic 2 minute presentations suited to upper Primary students:
This second presentation focuses a little more on the White Australia Policy and may need some further explaining.
Some important images from Federation:
An invitation to a celebration of the Australian Commonwealth in 1901 from The National Archives of Australia.
Image of the first Commonwealth Ministry from The National Archives of Australia.
Image of the ceremony of the opening of the first Commonwealth Parliament from the National Archives of Australia.
First Australian Prime Minister Edmund Barton's annontated copy of the constitution from 1891 - image from the National Archive of Australia.
An summary of events leading to Federation are found in this essay.
The Australian Government also has an excellent 'Federation: Fast Facts' web page, that includes a link to a Federation Timeline.
The Federation Pavillion is located in Sydney's Centennial Park - a walking distance from our school! You can see it here on this interactive map. The history and heritage of Centennial Park is discussed here. Photos of the Pavilion and a bit of information can be found here.
Finally, this is not exactly relating to Federation, but interesting to children is the 'Australia - A Federation in Stamps' clip.
