Have you wondered what it must have been like when the traditional owners of this land looked up from their activities to see the white sails of the ships of the First Fleet? Do you want to understand what ‘colonisation’ is and the effects it has had and continues to have on our First Peoples? Do you want to think about whether or not we should look at the settlement of Australia through a modern lens and judge the past accordingly? Have you ever thought to yourself, ‘Why didn’t Aboriginal People fight back against the white settlers?”

This unit will explore historical and contemporary issues faced by our First Australians. We will examine the effects of the arrival of white settlers in Australia and explore how they continue to impact upon Indigenous communities to this day.We will also look at the ways in which the government has tried to make amends for the failures of the past and the initiatives today such as the Victorian Treaty Advancement Commission and the Yoorrook Justice Commission that is looking into past and ongoing injustices experienced by Traditional Owners and First Peoples in Victoria in all areas of life since colonisation.

We will also look at First Peoples Dreaming history as OUR history in an effort to reconcile the past and the future.