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NSW Curriculum
NSW Education Standards Authority

7–10History 7–10 Syllabus

Record of changes
Implementation from 2027
Expand for detailed implementation advice

Content

Stage 4

Depth study (core): Aboriginal Peoples’ experiences of colonisation in Australia (1788 – c. 1901)

Content in Working with historical concepts and skills outlines how historical concepts and skills are to be integrated with all other content in this focus area as part of the process of historical inquiry.

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Working with historical concepts and skills
  • Use relevant historical concepts and skills

  • Engage in historical inquiry, using information from a range of sources as evidence where appropriate

  • Create written texts to explain historical concepts related to Aboriginal Peoples’ experience of colonisation in Australia

Background and origins of Aboriginal Peoples’ experiences of colonisation in Australia
  • Differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal worldviews of relationships to Country and land, including the concept of terra nullius

  • Aboriginal Peoples’ connection to Country as context for resistance throughout British colonisation and expansion

  • The causes and locations of the Frontier Wars across Australia

Significant groups, individuals, ideas, beliefs, practices and events relating to Aboriginal Peoples’ experiences of colonisation in Australia
  • Significant conflicts during initial contact: Sydney Cove and surrounds

  • Escalating tensions, resistance, conflicts and significance of Aboriginal identities involved

  • Reasons for the expansion into Tasmania, the causes of the Risdon Cove conflict and the Black War

  • The Myall Creek Massacre and another conflict in at least ONE other region or colony

  • The role of religious organisations during the period of colonisation

  • The establishment and role of the Aborigines Protection Board (APB) in NSW

Impact and legacies relating to Aboriginal Peoples’ experiences of colonisation in Australia to c. 1901
  • The impact of colonisation on Aboriginal Peoples, including women and their continued resistance

  • Impact of missions, reserves and stations on Aboriginal Peoples’ lives

  • Perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples on historical terms such as ‘invasion’, ‘colonisation’ and ‘settlement’

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