Week 4 Focus: The Events That Led to Federation

In Week 4 we are focusing on the events that led to Australian Federation.

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.

Exhibition: From Little Things Big Things Grow

The Museum of Sydney just finished presenting an exhibition called 'From Little Things Big Things Grow.'

This exhibition told the story of a group of Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, who said 'That's not good enough' – and did something about it. The exhibition tells some uncomfortable truths and celebrates some 'ordinary extraordinary' heroes.

I attended the exhibition on the final weekend of showing and was so glad I did - there was so much information availble about the history of voting and citizenship rights for Aboriginal people in Australia.

Here are some photos from my visit!
Please note, if you would like to read the text just double click on each photo and a larger image will appear.

Perhaps you would like to sue this information in the Week 4 component of your Homework Assignment...

The entry to the exhibition:


The explanation at the beginning of the exhibition:


An image of protest:


The 1940s:


The 1950s:


The 1960s:


A voting booth from the time of the referendum:


The Aboriginal tent embassy:


The Freedom Ride:


Aboriginal Citizens called their citizenship papers 'dog tags':


Some information on citizenship:

Week 3 Focus: Democracy in Australia

This week our Stage focus is the 'Development of Democracy in Australia,' and the key participants in the process such as Sir Henry Parkes, Edmund Barton and Alfred Deakin.

This comprehensive timeline documents the development of democracy in Australia.

The Parliament of NSW has a more child-friendly timeline and explanation of the events that contributed to federation, as well as an explanation on 'Federation and the Parliament of NSW.'

The National Museum of Australia has a 'Life at the time of Federation' Curriculum materials that are fully downloadable from their website.
This unit of work encourages students to investigate what life was like in Australia at the time of Federation through an examination of a 'time capsule' containing seven key objects used at the time of Federation. Students explore the meaning of these objects to reveal their role in our national identity and their importance in the Federation process.

The Australian Constitution is explained by the Parliamentary Education Office here.

A copy of the Australian Constitution is available here.

The 'Discovering Democracy' website has an amazing array of downloadable material and worksheets appropriate for upper primary students. They are also directly linked to NSW Outcomes. Now I need to go back to school and see if we have the 'video' ;) Can't wait until these websites are all updated with downloadable media.

Here are also some ESL Links that might be worth exploring.

A continent for Federation:



In Search of Democracy - Federation:



Presentation summarising the life and achievements of Sir Henry Parkes:



Actual footage of Australia's Federation Ceremony (silent):