Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta (ATOM Study Guide)

Once Upon A Time in Cabramatta is a three-part documentary program chronicling the largely untold and unknown story of the Vietnamese people in Australia. It shows how the Vietnamese community in Cabramatta overcame the odds and found their place in multicultural Australia.

The story begins with the 1979 landmark decision of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser to open Australia 's doors to thousands of refugees fleeing Vietnam at the end of the war. It is a moment in history that finally buries the infamous White Australia Policy and transforms a nation.

The years that follow are as dramatic as they are turbulent. In this one small Sydney suburb, Cabramatta, the 1980s and 1990s see the emergence of street gangs, a heroin epidemic and the first political assassination in Australia 's history. The Vietnamese people are vilified and demonised. Cabramatta seems to represent all that is wrong with Asian immigration. The universal support for multiculturalism is a distant memory.

But as the century draws to a close there is a remarkable turnaround. The Vietnamese people finally find their voice and claim their rightful, democratic place in their adopted home. Cabramatta is a community transformed, Australia, a continent changed forever.

This documentary series would be suitable for students in secondary schools studying the impact of migration on Australian society and the complex process of re-settlement. At its heart is an examination of the reality of 'multiculturalism' as a lived experience. It would be a valuable resource in SOSE/HSIE and History for students studying contemporary society and migration to Australia.