Yakka: Australia At Work (ATOM Study Guide)

NB: This study guide includes both a full guide as well as a condensed Grab and Go version.

From working the land to digging up minerals, from manufacturing to the services industry, Yakka: Australia At Work explores how work has shaped Australia from World War II to the present.

Each episode in the series is themed around a particular form of work. The first, 'Soil & Toil', is about agriculture and how the industry has had to adapt to survive in changing global and domestic economies, a volatile political landscape, and face the challenges of an unpredictable climate.

The second episode, 'Making a Nation', explores the post-war work revolution in which Australia was transformed from an agricultural economy into a manufacturing one.

Episode three, 'Groundbreakers', is about mining. From the 1949 coal miners’ strike to the ‘Axe the Tax’ demonstrations sixty-five years later, this episode is about the political power of miners and the mining industry since World War II. It’s also about how mining has changed the political landscape as it did during the Yolngu resistance to mining in Arnhem Land the 1960s and 70s.

The final episode, 'At Your Service', is about two things: women and the services industry. In this episode we explore how women fought against misogyny to secure jobs, and how the workplace changed – through technology and events like the COVID-19 pandemic – to make women arguably the most important workers in the contemporary Australian workplace.

Curriculum Links:

Yakka: Australia At Work is relevant to students in Years 6 and above in the learning areas of:

• HASS (History, Economics and Business, Civics and Citizenship)
• Modern History
• English
• The Arts (Media Studies)

Students may also link to the general capabilities of Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical Understanding and Personal and Social Capability.