HT120

INTRODUCTION TO AUSTRALIAN HISTORY

This sample unit outline is provided by CHC for prospective and current
students to assist with unit selection.
Elements of this outline which may change with subsequent offerings of
the unit include Content, Required Texts, Recommended Readings and
details of the Assessment Tasks.
Students who are currently enrolled in this unit should obtain the outline
for the relevant semester from the unit lecturer.

Unit Name

Introduction to Australian History

Unit Code

HT120

Awards

Bachelor of Education (Middle Years) - History minor

Bachelor of Education (Secondary) - History teaching area
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Education (Secondary) - History major/minor
This unit is able to be undertaken towards other CHC awards according to course
rules and the meeting of prerequisite requirements, as applicable.

Core/Elective

Elective

Pre/co-requisites

Nil

Incompatible

CR181 Introduction to History and Geography

Mode

Internal

The study of Australian history is an essential foundation for those who want to
understand the society in which they will live and work. This unit endeavours to
provide a survey of Australian history in order to expand upon students existing
knowledge and to lay an important foundation for advanced units in Australian
history. The major themes and issues of Australian politics, society, economics,
religion and foreign relations which have characterised and influenced Australian
history will be examined and re-evaluated. Beginning with Australias Aboriginal
roots, the unit will trace Australias development from its days as a penal colony
through its nineteenth century expansion to nationhood, and on to its new and
uncertain role as a regional power in an Asian environment in the early twentieth
century. In this way, students will gain insights into the past struggles and on-going
issues of contemporary importance which have shaped Australian society.

SA

Unit Rationale

33 hours
44 hours
63 hours
140 hours

PL
E

Delivery/Contact hrs Class contact

Engagement with unit materials
Assignment preparation
Total

It will be particularly important in this unit to begin to transform students from

passive learners of history in active historians. Students will be encouraged to
question their received knowledge and to begin to apply more rigorous standards
of historical inquiry to their understanding of Australian history. There is good
opportunity within this unit for students to evaluate historical evidence for
themselves, as there is a wealth of documentary evidence and other primary
sources available. The unit will thus provide a valuable opportunity to impart and
refine the skills in research and analysis which underlie all historical investigation.

Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this unit, students will have provided evidence that they have:
1. Discussed issues, trends and themes in Australias history.
2. Analysed the interaction of social, political and cultural factors in shaping Australias development as a
nation.
3. Applied the understanding of these interactions to the development of an appreciation of the nature
and character of contemporary Australian society.
4. Applied research and investigative skills to a range of primary sources and recent historiographical
material.
5. Presented a cogent written argument of sound literary quality.
6. Written at an appropriate tertiary standard (with special attention to correct grammar, punctuation,
spelling, vocabulary, usage, sentence structure, logical relations, style, referencing and presentation).

Content:
Week

Topic
Ideological Battlegrounds: Whose history is it anyway?

Aboriginal history

Early Penal Settlement, 1788-1820; The Convict Era

Political and Economic Growth

Federation

World War I and the Depression

World War II

Re-imagining History: the place of film in creating Australian History

The Menzies Era

10

Redefining Australian Identity: From Whitlam to Howard

11

Australian Foreign Policy: Engagement with our region - an overview

Set Text Requirements:

PL
E

rd

SA

Clark, M 1986, A Short History of Australia. 3 edn, Penguin, New York.

Recommended Readings:

Aboriginal Elders Community Service & Harvey, K 2003, Aboriginal Elders Voices: Stories of the Tide of
History: Victorian Indigenous Elders Life Stories & Oral Histories, Language Australia, Melbourne.
Australia: Birth of a Nation [videodisc] 2007, Discovery Video, Bentleigh, VIC.
Bassett, J 1996, The Oxford Illustrated Dictionary of Australian History, Oxford University Press,
Melbourne.
Blainey, G 2001, The Tyranny of Distance, rev. edn, Pan Macmillan, Sydney.
Boer, R 2008, Last Stop Before Antarctica: The Bible and Postcolonialism in Australia, 2
Biblical Literature, Atlanta, GA.

nd

edn, Society of

Clark, M 1962-1987, A History of Australia, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.

Clark, M 1950-1978, Select Documents in Australian History, Angus & Robertson, Sydney.
Couchman, S, Fitzgerald. J & Macgregor, P (eds.) 2004, After the Rush: Regulation, Participation and
Chinese Communities in Australia, 1860-1940, Yuanxiang Literary Journal, Kingsbury, VIC.
Davison, G 2000, The Use and Abuse of Australian History, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.
Davison, G, Hirst, J & MacIntyre, S (eds.) 2001, The Oxford Companion to Australian History, Oxford
University Press, Melbourne.
Hollinsworth, D 2006, Race and Racism in Australia, 3rd edn, Thomson Learning, South Melbourne.
Hsu-Ming, T & White, R (eds.) 2003, Cultural History in Australia, UNSW Press, Sydney.
Hudson, W & Bolton, G (eds.) 1997, Creating Australian: Changing Australian History, Allen & Unwin,
Sydney.
Jupp, J 2004, The English in Australia, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne.
Macintyre, S 2004, A Concise History of Australia, 2
VIC.

nd

edn, Cambridge University Press, Pot Melbourne,

Macintyre S & Clark, A 2004, The History Wars, new edn, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, VIC.
Nile, R 1995, Australian Civilisation, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Piggin, S 2004, Spirit of a Nation: The Story of Australias Christian Heritage, 2

nd

edn, Strand, Sydney.

Prentis, MD 2008, A Concise Companion to Aboriginal History, Rosenberg, Dural, NSW.

Windschuttle, K 2003, The Fabrication of Aboriginal History Vol. 1: Van Diemans Land 1803-1847,
Macleay Press, Paddington, NSW.
Assessment:
Assessment Item

Topic/s

Select a primary document from

Clarks Select Documents in
Australian History. Analyse its
content, paying attention to the
context in which it was written,
how information was imparted and
what influence there may have
been on the society into which it
was written.

Essay
(2000 words)

Choose one of the following:

Week Due

Weighting

1-2, 4-5

Week 6

20%

Week 10

40%

PL
E

Document Study
(1000 words)

Learning Outcomes
assessed

SA

- In 1995, the Prime Minister,

John Howard, described
Manning-Clarks view of
Australian history as being a
black armband view of history.
In the light of your understanding
of the history of Australia, do you
agree with this notion?
- After investigating the history of
Aboriginal and European
relations since European
settlement, do you agree with
the notion that Australia was
invaded?
- Outline, with reference in detail
to either New South Wales or
Van Diemens Land, how the
new colony was to be used as a
prison.
- Gold irrevocably changed the
Australasian colonies. Discuss
this statement in the light of
political, economic and social
changes in the colonies in the
mid- to late-nineteenth centuries.
- Explain how the nation of
Australia was birthed in the later
years of the nineteenth century.
Discuss the issues that needed
to be overcome in order to
create the nation of Australia.
- The legend of the sacrificial
hero. To what extent is this
statement a fair description of
Australian involvement in the
wars of the early twentieth
century?

1-3, 5

PL
E

- You have to see it to believe it.

Discuss the limitations and
advantages of portraying history
on film, particularly Australian
history. Show how film uses
primary, secondary and
historiographical material to
present varied views of
Australian history.
- Relaxed and comfortable. Is
this an adequate description of
Australia during the Menzies
era? Consider social and
economic influences as well as
political influences.
- Discuss how the idea of being
Australian developed between
the prime ministerships of
Gough Whitlam and John
Howard.
- Anxious nation. Is this a fair
description of Australian foreign
policy in the twentieth-century?
Examination

1-3, 5

Unit Overview:

Week 16

40%

SA

This unit is a foundational study for students of Australian History. It examines historical movements as
well as the ideologies that have shaped the history of Australia. It encourages analysis of historical data
and the use of those materials to encourage an understanding of the Australian character both in the past
and in contemporary Australian life.