VCE Australian history - units 3 & 4

Students investigate the changing patterns of migration to and within the colonies and federated Australia, and the social, political and economic factors influencing the colonies.

They examine the attitudes towards Indigenous peoples and the influence of European and Chinese migration on the diverse perspectives about who was included and who belonged. Students examine debates that influenced immigration and forced migration to the colonies and federated Australia, and the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Students consider how these perspectives influenced the new nation after 1901 and decisions about who was to be included or excluded. (VCE History Study Design 2022–2026 p.56)

• Griffith, Charles The present state and prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales (published 1845) 
• Hamilton, John P Adjudication on the gold fields in New South Wales and Victoria in the 19th century Phd thesis 2014
  • click on image of item at bottom of page to view or download
• McLean, Ian W. Why Australia prospered : the shifting sources of economic growth
  • see particularly chapter 4 and 5. 
• Blainey, Geoffrey A history of Victoria 
• Roberts, Stephen H. History of Australian land settlement

Victorian & Commonwealth Acts of Parliament for the period may give a flavour of the priorities and attitude of the colonial government during the 19th century and the state and Commonwealth government after federation in 1901.

Prior to 1851 Victoria was known as the Port Phillip District and subject to the laws of New South Wales

Some examples of Acts that inform this area of study: 

Victoria

• Act to regulate the residence of the Chinese Population in Victoria (1857)
• Act for the better management of the Gold Fields in the Colony of Victoria (1853)
• Act to provide for the Protection and Management of the Aboriginal Natives of Victoria
• Aborigines Protection Act 1886 (known as the 'Half-caste Act')

Commonwealth

• Maternity Allowance Act 1912
• Immigration Restriction Act 1901

For further legislation:

Newspapers are a great source of information. They report on the issues of the day and reflect the attitudes of the time.

See these examples for articles that reflect attitudes of the time.

• The wars of the  Aborigines. Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer 25 January, 1854, p. 4
• The Aborigines  The Argus 16 March 1856, p. 4. 

British newspapers 

There are a range of first hand accounts of life in the early colonial days of the Port Phillip District and Victoria.

These will either be accounts written from the authors memories, or diaries written as events occurred.

Memoirs are more considered and have the benefit of hindsight.

Diaries are immediate and give instant impressions, often they were more personal and provide detail that a later memoir, written for publication, may not have.

Here are some examples of both diaries and memoirs. Click 'View online' tab for full text

• Bonwick, James Notes of a gold digger, and gold digger's guide
• Evans, Charles James  Diary of Charles Evans, 1853 September 24 -1855 January 21
• Howitt, William Land, labour and gold, or, Two years in Victoria : with visits to Sydney and Van Diemen's Land (1855)
• Jenkins, Joseph Diary of Joseph Jenkins 1869-1894
• Pierson, Thomas  Diaries, 1852 Sep. 30-1864 Apr. 12
• Read, C. Rudston What I heard, saw, and did at the Australian gold fields

The Early Experiences in Australasia database will also be helpful for primary sources.

See these examples of relevant  parliamentary papers:

• Report of the Select Committee of the Legislative Council on the subject of Chinese immigration  (1857)
• Report of the Commission appointed to enquire into the condition of the gold fields of Victoria (1855)
• Royal Commission on the Aborigines (1877) 

See these examples - use 'Search within' option at left of screen to find specific references to Aborigines; Chinese; Port Phillip District (prior to 1851) 

• Correspondence relative to recent discovery of gold in Australia - 1852; 1852/3; 1854; 1854/5; 1856; 1857
• Correspondence relative to Condition of Licensed Occupiers of Crown Lands in Port Philip and New South Wales Despatch, February 1841
• Papers relative to Crown Lands in Australian Colonies: Part I. (New South Wales and Victoria) 1852/3
• Despatches of Governors of Australian Colonies, illustrative of Condition of Aborigines 1844 

Glorious News! Separation at last H38464 

Victoria becomes a self governing colony

Poster from Melbourne Morning Herald, 11 November 1850, when news reached Melbourne that the Australian Constitutions Act 1850 (An Act for the better Government of Her Majesty's Australian Colonies) had been passed by the British Parliament.

News of this Act was met with great jubilation as it paved the way for the establishment of Victoria as a separate colony.

See also these items from British Parliamentary Papers:

• Correspondence on Australian Colonies Government Bill 1850
• Further papers relative to the alterations in the constitutions of the Australian colonies 1851

In May 1851 NSW passed the Victoria Electoral Act. Victoria became a separate colony on 1 July 1851.

• Search our Library catalogue
• Databases, eresources & ebooks
• Ask a librarian
• Become a Library member
• Library systems status