Connecting you with Australian culture online
Australian weather and the seasons European discovery and the colonisation of Australia Great Barrier Reef The Australian Gold Rush Australian Indigenous cultural heritage Melbourne Cup Convicts and the British colonies in Australia Australian food and drink Sydney Opera House The Great Depression
Australian animation is internationally recognised, Leisure (1976), Harvie Krumpet (2003) and Happy Feet (2006) have all won Oscars. Leisure employs cell style animation, Harvie Krumpet is made using the method of stop-motion claymation and Happy Feet fe...
The bush has an iconic status in Australian life and features strongly in any debate about national identity, especially as expressed in Australian literature, painting, popular music, films and foods. The bush was revered as a source of national ideals b...
Australian films and filmmakers receive acclaim on the world stage, and the achievements of Australian women onscreen are celebrated. The play's success encouraged Kate to turn the play into a film (1920), which she co-directed with Charles Villiers, mak...
The Australian film industry got off to a flying start, producing what was probably the world's first full length feature film in 1906. The film was the Tait brothers production The Story of the Kelly Gang, a success in both Australian and British theatr...
The Australian film industry got off to a flying start, producing what was probably the world's first full length feature film in 1906. South Australia banned the screening of bushranger films in 1911, Victoria followed in 1912. Colour production came t...
Australian folklore, its traditions, customs and beliefs are based on both Indigenous and also non-Indigenous people's knowledge and experience of history in Australia. Some of Australia's folklore remembers the relationship between Europeans and Aborigi...
James Francis (Frank) Hurley (1885-1962) is regarded as an extraordinary Australian photographer, adventurer, filmmaker and writer. Image courtesy National Library of Australia: nla.pic-an23478581. In 1911, Australian explorer Douglas Mawson hired Hurley...
Humour is seen in the Australian use of slang, and across media from cartoons in print, as sketches on radio, as comedy series on television, in films and with witty observations of life in Australian literature. Mocking the wowser is another common elem...
Indigenous film either portrays Indigenous people, issues and stories or is film made by Indigenous Australians. The portrayal of Indigenous issues and people in film provides a unique insight into Australia's relationship with its Indigenous peoples and...
Unknown, Portrait of the bushranger Ned Kelly, 1880, glass plate negative. More books, songs and websites have been written about Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang than any other group of Australian historical figures. Unknown, Kate Kelly, sister of Ned Kelly...
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science was established in 1927 and the Academy Awards or Oscars ceremonies commenced in 1929. Image courtesy of Latent Image Productions Pty Ltd and National Film & Sound Archive. Their Oscar Statuette is on displa...
Ben Snow, Visual Effects Supervisor for Van Helsing (2004) and Pearl Harbour (2001). Hidden behind the scenes in film, television, new media and game production, a number of Australian individuals and companies have been quietly contributing their creati...
Each year the Sydney Festival offers a rich and diverse program spanning all art forms including dance, theatre, music, visual arts, film, forums and large scale free outdoor events. The National Multicultural Festival is held over two weeks and features...
The first National Sorry Day was held on 26 May 1998 - one year after the tabling of the report Bringing them Home, May 1997. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission into the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their fami...
Australian singer Little Pattie and the band, Col Joye and the Joye Boys, perform for soldiers of Headquarters Australian Force Vietnam, in the Free World Military building, Saigon, Vietnam. Like rock music, popular, or pop music had its origins in the 1...
Patriotic music written in wartime has been used to express national pride, spread propaganda, encourage enlistment and motivate troops serving in Australia and on overseas duty. Until the First World War, patriotic music written for wars tended to dwell...
People born during this period became known as baby boomers. Combined with an increase in European migration to Australia, the baby boomers changed Australia (and the world) in the second half of the 20th century. Australian journalist Mark Davis argues...
Traditional Indigenous architecture was domestic - across a range of well crafted and technologically designed shelters and residential camps. Courtesy of Queensland Museum and Aboriginal Environments Research Centre. Annual base camp structures, whether...
UNESCO states that Indigenous populations number some 350 million individuals in more than 70 countries in the world, and that this represents more than 5000 languages and cultures. Today, many Indigenous peoples live on the fringes of society and are de...
Image courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald. Lawrence Hargrave, who achieved the first powered flight in 1894 with four box kites, was said to be symbolic of many Australian inventors and Australian innovation; 'He was interested in the invention, not th...
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