Unit 1

The focus for this unit is to develop knowledge and understanding of Australia’s First Nations Peoples as being the oldest living continuous cultures in the world. Students explore factors that contribute to a group, or individual, identity. Students further develop their understanding of the diversity of First Nations Peoples’ experiences and perspectives, locally, nationally, and globally and develop an awareness of the ways First Nations Peoples’ identities are expressed through unique ways of being, knowing and doing.

Unit 2

The focus of this unit is for students to learn about the distinctiveness and diversity of Australian First Nations Peoples’ cultural expressions. They learn how First Nations Peoples, both within Australia and internationally, continue to use materials and technologies in innovative ways to create cultural expressions that celebrate, challenge and communicate ideas and perspectives. Students explore the use of First Nations Peoples’ cultural expressions to continue, maintain, share and revitalise their cultural knowledge and values and, in doing so, develop respect and understanding of the cultural protocols, including intellectual and cultural property rights, which exist to protect and revitalise First Nation Peoples’ cultures.

Unit 3

The focus for this unit is the relationship First Nations Peoples in Australia and internationally have with the environment. Students will study the important role that Country and the environment play in the lives, cultures and identities of First Nations Peoples. This unit explores how the diversity of environments around Australia and internationally influences First Nations Peoples’ skills, knowledge and practices in adapting to changes to the environments over time.

Unit 4

The focus of this unit is the importance of self-determination for First Nations Peoples and the ongoing resilience demonstrated by First Nations Peoples in the face of invasion, displacement, government policy and other cultural interactions.

This unit explores how all Australians can contribute to reconciliation and the range of ways that First Nations people and their allies have changed and resisted change, through a variety of methods such as political activism, education and social media campaigns, in order to maintain a strong sense of identity and connection to culture. Students consider the positive impact that different cultural perspectives have on extending our knowledge and understanding of the world.