When and why did Australia become a welfare state?

History Year 10 AC v9.0 60

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Introduction

Students develop an initial hypothesis that answers the question: ‘When and why did Australia become a welfare state?’

They then collaboratively construct a class timeline of key tax and welfare events and developments from Federation to the present day to draw conclusions about continuity and change. By identifying significant tax and welfare events, students begin to understand the concept of historical significance.

Achievement standard

By the end of Year 10, students explain the historical significance of the period between 1918 and the early 21st century. They explain the causes and effects of events, developments, turning points or movements in 20th-century Australia and internationally, leading up to and through the Second World War, and the post-war world. They describe social, cultural, economic and/or political aspects, including international developments, related to the changes and continuities in Australian society over this historical period. Students explain the role of significant ideas, individuals, groups and institutions connected to the developments of this period and their influences on Australian and global history.

Students develop and modify a range of questions about the past to inform historical inquiry. They locate, select and compare a range of primary and secondary sources and synthesise the information in sources to use as evidence in historical inquiry. They analyse the origin, content, context and purpose of primary and secondary sources. Students evaluate the accuracy, usefulness and reliability of sources as evidence. They sequence events and developments to analyse cause and effect, and patterns of continuity and change, connected to a period, event or movement. They evaluate perspectives of significant events and developments, and explain the important factors that influence these perspectives. They compare and evaluate different and contested historical interpretations. Students use historical knowledge, concepts and terms to develop descriptions, explanations and historical arguments that synthesise evidence from sources.

Content descriptions

Historical Knowledge and Understanding

The effects of World War II, with a particular emphasis on the continuities and changes on the Australian home front, such as the changing roles of women and First Nations Australians, and the use of wartime government controls. (AC9HH10K04)

Historical Skills

Develop and modify a range of historical questions about the past to inform historical inquiry. (AC9HH10S01)

Analyse cause and effect, and evaluate patterns of continuity and change. (AC9HH10S05)

Teacher resources

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To print

Welfare events

 
Teacher tool

Talking cards

Suggested activity sequence

This sequence is intended as a framework to be modified and adapted by teachers to suit the needs of a class group.If you assign this activity to a class, your students will be assigned all student resources on their 'My learning' page. You can also hand-pick the resources students are assigned by selecting individual resources when you add a work item to a class in 'My classes'.

Part A: Developing a hypothesis

  1. Explain that the activities students engage in will focus on answering the following inquiry question:
    How and why did Australia become a welfare state?
  2. Explain the view of some historians regarding the history of welfare in Australia such as the view of Shaver:
    ‘Australia entered World War II with only a fragmentary welfare provision: by the end of the war it had constructed a 'welfare state'1
  3. Students develop a hypothesis about how and why Australia became a welfare state.
  4. Elicit students' initial ideas and ask them to share their first tentative hypothesis that answers the inquiry question.
  5. Invite students to develop a range of questions that could support their historical inquiry and test their hypothesis.

[1] Shaver, Sheila. (1987). “Design for a Welfare State: The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Social Security”. Australian Historical Studies. 22. P. 411.

Part B: Creating a class timeline of significant events

  1. Post the following headings on a wall:
    • Pre-World War II
    • World War II
    • Post-World War II
    • Now
  2. Give each student (or pair of students) an event and invite them to build a timeline of the key events in each period by placing their event on the wall in the correct place.
  3. As a class, discuss the differences between the black events and the blue events. What is the relationship between them?
  4. Students identify and discuss the following in groups:
    • the main continuities
    • the changes
    • when the most changes occurred and the period of history with the greatest significance in the history of welfare
    • anything that surprises them.
      To promote collaborative and purposeful talk, use the talking cards resource.
  5. Students record their answers in their notebooks.
  6. Invite students to revisit their initial hypothesis. If it is no longer supported by evidence, have them generate a new hypothesis.
  7. Discuss as a class the findings that emerged from this activity.
When and why did Australia become a welfare state? - Teachers instructions (PDF, 137.87 KB)