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Digital Classroom

Explore Australia's history at the National Library's Digital Classroom, aligned with the Australian Curriculum. With over 10 million items, we support diverse learning styles, fostering inquiry-based learning for students to analyse sources and draw conclusions about the Australian story.
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An image from an old Dutch book showing some text with a pen drawing above the text of several tents on an island and many people fighting with each other.

Francisco Pelsaert, Ongeluckige voyagie van't schip Batavia na Oost-Indien uyt-gevaren onder de E. Franç̧ois Pelsaert : gebleven op de Abriolhos van Frederick Houtman op de hooghte van 28 en een half graden by Zuyden de Linie Equinoctiael : vervattende 't verongelucken des schips, en de grouwelijcke moorderyen onder 't scheeps-volck, op't eylandt Bataviaes Kerck-hoff nevens de straffe der handtdadigers in de Jaren 1628 en 1629 ; hier achter is by- gevoeght eenige discourssen der Oost-Indische Zee-vaert als mede de gantsche gelegentheyt der Koopmanschappen diemen in Indien doet., 1649, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-39984464

Shipwrecked!

Topic

At least four VOC ships were shipwrecked on the Western Australian coast in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Humanities
Year 4
Explorers
A colorful vintage poster promoting Australia as the "Land of Tomorrow." The illustration features a vibrant rural scene with a man riding a horse in the foreground, surrounded by sheep and blooming trees. In the background, a farmhouse with a red roof is set amidst rolling green hills, with a farmer driving a tractor and a windmill spinning. Smoke rises from the house's chimney, adding to the idyllic countryside feel. The words "Australia" and "land of tomorrow" are prominently displayed.

J. G & Australia. Department of Information, Australia land of tomorrow, 1950, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-137199963

Selling the dream

Topic

Understand how advertising to attract migrants and visitors is linked to Australia's immigration policies with this teaching resource.

Humanities
Year 6
Migration and immigration
simpson washer flyer

Simpson (Firm) (issuing body.) (1950). Hooray! It's washday! - my day off!. [Australia] Simpson

Selling modernity

Topic

The postwar era saw advertising reflect notions of the ideal Australian home, of masculinity and feminine beauty and of health.

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Australian history
Literature and writing
A black-and-white photograph of a woman standing against a wall covered in posters. She is smiling and holding a folded newspaper in her arms, casually dressed with loose hair. The posters in the background are partially torn and feature bold text and graphics.

Brendan Hennessy, Germaine Greer holding newspapers, 1988, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-149859225

Second wave feminism and 20th century social change

Topic

Explore how Second Wave feminism and social changes in the 20th century reshaped women’s rights, roles, and aspirations in society.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Australian history
Australian women
Democracy
Government and politics
Law and legislation
Protest and dissent
Painting of five men, thought to be Dr Daniel Solander, Sir Joseph Banks, Captain James Cook, Dr John Hawkesworth, Lord Sandwich.

John Hamilton Mortimer, (1771), [Captain James Cook, Sir Joseph Banks, Lord Sandwich, Dr Daniel Solander and Dr John Hawkesworth], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135646842

Science and strategy: The Enlightenment

Module

This resource is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: Modern History for Senior Secondary students, with specific reference to content descriptions for Unit 1: Understanding the Modern World, and specifically those that fall under the topic elective ‘The Enlightenment (1750–1789)’.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Explorers
Science and technology
World cultures and history
illustration of man walking with magnifying glass and drawing of a Australian flora

The botanic Macaroni, 1772, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135987238

Science

Topic

During the Enlightenment, social and scientific thinking began to change. Enlightenment thinkers pushed for social change through the separation of church and state and the establishment of constitutional government. 

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Explorers
World cultures and history
A photograph of a smiling woman seated in a wheelchair in front of a large bookcase and desk. She is wearing a white tshirt. The wheelchair has a control stick which sits just below her chin.

Rosemary Kayess, 2015, photo courtesy of Kim Rubenstein

Rosemary Kayess - Human rights lawyer

Topic 

Rosemary Kayess has devoted her career to the study and promotion of human rights and discrimination law in Australia and internationally.

Humanities
Year 10
Australian women
An Aboriginal person dressed in a red coat with white breeches and black boots stands on a beach, just at the edge of the water. They wear a tricorn hat with a red naval officer jacket and holds a scroll. In the background, a large, multi-masted sailing ship with white sails is anchored on calm waters under an overcast sky.

Michael Cook, Undiscovered #4, 2010, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-708299938

Reshaping narratives of Australian history

Topic

Examine how increasing recognition of First Nations cultures and perspectives is reshaping the national conversation about Australia's post-European settlement history.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Australian history
Explorers
First Australians
Two men are gathered under the shelter of a thatched roof structure. On top of the structure, offerings of meat and fish are strewn. In the foreground there are twelve signs or totems sticking out of the ground. To the left of the structure is a larger thatched roofed hut. The compound is surrounded by vegetation

John Williams, John Webber and James Cook, A human sacrifice in a morai in Otaheite, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136423378

Religious and social significance

Topic

Many European explorers, sailing across the eastern Pacific islands from the 18th century onwards, reported with astonishment their visits at religious sites, the impressive carved statues and the complex ceremonies they witnessed.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
World cultures and history
Three young girls smile and sit together inside a wooden boat cabin. A customs officer stands outside near a vessel labeled "Customs." Two bowls rest on a barrel near the cabin.

Michael Jensen, Three girls in cabin on the boat from Vietnam, Darwin 1977, nla.gov.au/catalog/3209932

Refugees

Topic

Examine the journeys and challenges of refugees to Australia and reflect on government policies related to asylum and detention in this learning resource.

Humanities
Year 6
Migration and immigration
A sepia image of a weather almanac for 1894.

New South Wales weather almanac for ... : a general handbook for the year, 1894, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-406743496

Recording weather

Topic

In colonial Australia, there was a useful household book called an almanac. It contained lots of information, including weather forecasts and pictures of the flags used to signify approaching storms.

Humanities
Science
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Environment and biodiversity
Geography
A large red and yellow poster with a bold headline reading 'COAL IS VITAL TO VICTORY!'. The poster has three sub headings that read 'Switch off PROMPTLY' with a picture of a light switch, 'Turn that GAS down!' With an image of a pot on a gas cooktop, and 'Don't waste WATER!' with an image of a running tap.

Commonwealth Coal Commission from New South Wales. Department of Health. & Commonwealth Salvage Commission (Australia). & Commonwealth Coal Commission (Australia), Coal is Vital to Victory!, from [Posters Relating to the Australian Civilian War Effort During World War 2]. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2633341080

Public service announcements: For the war effort

Topic

The posters on this page were published during times of conflict.

English
Languages
Mathematics
Teachers
Communications and media

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