VCE Australian History flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Federation

The process by which six British colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901 under the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900.

Terra nullius

The legal doctrine treating Australia as land belonging to no one before British settlement; overturned by the Mabo decision in 1992.

White Australia policy

A set of policies, beginning with the Immigration Restriction Act 1901, designed to exclude non-white migrants through means such as the dictation test.

Anzac legend

The national myth arising from the Gallipoli landing of 25 April 1915, emphasising mateship, courage and sacrifice as defining Australian characteristics.

Conscription plebiscites

Two national votes in 1916 and 1917 in which Australians narrowly rejected compulsory overseas military service during the First World War.

Harvester Judgement

A 1907 Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Court ruling establishing a basic wage sufficient to support a family of five, underpinning the living wage.

Section 109

A provision of the Australian Constitution stating that when Commonwealth and state laws conflict, the Commonwealth law prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.

1967 referendum

A national vote that amended the Constitution to allow Commonwealth laws for Aboriginal people and to count them in the census.

Mabo decision

The 1992 High Court ruling recognising native title and rejecting the doctrine of terra nullius in Australian law.

Populate or perish

A post-1945 immigration policy slogan reflecting fears of invasion and the belief that Australia needed rapid population growth through migration.

Assimilation policy

A mid-twentieth-century policy expecting migrants and Aboriginal people to adopt Anglo-Australian culture and abandon their own languages and customs.

Multiculturalism

An official policy from the early 1970s accepting cultural diversity and encouraging migrants to retain their heritage within Australian society.

Primary source

Evidence produced during the period being studied, such as letters, photographs, legislation or newspapers, used to understand past perspectives.

Secondary source

A later work that interprets and analyses the past, such as a history textbook or scholarly article, shaped by the author's perspective.

Historical perspective

The viewpoint, values and assumptions held by people living in the past, reconstructed from evidence rather than judged by present standards.

Historical interpretation

A historian's constructed argument or explanation of the past, which may be contested and should be evaluated against available evidence.

Continuity and change

A historical thinking skill analysing what stayed the same and what altered across a period, including pace, extent and who was affected.

Cause and consequence

Analysis distinguishing long-term and short-term causes, triggers, and intended or unintended outcomes of events and developments.

Historical significance

A judgement about why an event or person matters, based on criteria such as impact, depth of consequence and relevance today.

SAC

School-assessed coursework: supervised assessment tasks completed at school that contribute to the study score for Units 3 and 4.

Study score weighting

School-assessed coursework contributes 50 per cent and the end-of-year examination 50 per cent of the total VCE study score.

End-of-year examination

A two-hour written examination covering both Units 3 and 4, requiring essay and source-based responses under timed conditions.

Authentication

The teacher's verification that assessed work is the student's own, supported by supervision and compliance with the school's assessment policy.

Performance descriptors

Criteria in a marking rubric describing the qualities of responses at different levels, used to judge the depth of historical reasoning.

Command terms

Instruction words such as 'evaluate', 'analyse' and 'describe' that signal the cognitive demand and expected form of a response.

Special provision

Approved adjustments to assessment conditions, such as extra time, that address disadvantage while keeping outcomes comparable for all students.

Source analysis

An assessment task evaluating a document's origin, purpose, value and limitations and using it as evidence about the past.

Depression hardship

The economic collapse of the 1930s, when unemployment reached about 30 per cent and many relied on sustenance payments and relief work.

Second-wave feminism

A movement from the 1960s–70s challenging domestic expectations, seeking equal pay and reproductive rights for Australian women.

Equal pay decisions

Arbitration rulings in 1969 and 1972 that progressively established equal pay for women doing work of equal value.

Whitlam reforms

The reforming program of the Whitlam government from 1972, including Medibank, no-fault divorce and the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

Vietnam War protest

A wave of public opposition in the 1960s–70s to Australian involvement in Vietnam, including moratorium marches and conscientious objection.