Making of Modern Australia, The (ATOM Study Guide)

This four-part documentary series for ABC1 is a true 'people's history' of postwar Australia. It draws on the stories and memories of ordinary Australians to reveal the significant social and cultural shifts in Australian life since World War Two.

Narrated by actor and writer William McInnes, The Making of Modern Australia examines just how much this country has changed over the past sixty years. It explores key themes that are part of our day-to-day social life – parenting, relationships, the family home, and faith and religion.

The series will investigate some of the historical triggers for change in Australian society. Archival footage and narration is used to illustrate the big-picture changes while rich personal and family stories, photographs and home-movie footage provide a fresh perspective and imbue familiar history with a new emotional power.

The Making of Modern Australia's website will provide a place for communities to develop, share information and resources while at the same time allowing the synthesis of fresh material to become an archival record for the nation – a national scrapbook.

The Making of Modern Australia is our nation's history told by the people who lived it.

This series offers an excellent introduction to how Australian society has changed since the end of World War Two in 1945. While the series could be shown across a number of curriculum areas as part of a cross-curricula study of modern Australia, the programs have particular relevance for students of:

• History/SOSE/HSIE
• Australian Studies