National History Challenge

The Australian National Maritime Museum is a proud sponsor of the Migration category in the National History Challenge. The challenge is a free competition for Australian primary and secondary students and is organised by the History Teachers’ Association of Australia (HTAA).  

The theme for 2025 is “Conflict and Resolution”. 

“The National History Challenge gives students a chance to be historians, researching world history, examining Australia’s past, investigating their community or exploring their own roots. It emphasises and rewards quality research, the use of community resources and effective presentation.”
 

As part of the Migration category, your entry must address migration to Australia by sea and its historical significance to Australia. The Maritime Museum would like students to research the story of a person, group of people, or event that made people journey across the sea to call Australia their home.

You can cover any period of history and we encourage projects about personal stories and the use of primary sources from the Maritime Museum, your own life or other institutes.

All entries in this special category must state how they have used or been inspired by resources from the Australian National Maritime Museum.

 This could include:

• Content on the Maritime Museum’s website
• Object/s from the National Maritime collection
• Exhibitions, monuments or vessels at the Maritime Museum.

Entries should research: 

1. How conflict was a part of the chosen migration topic, either before or during the journey to Australia.
2. What resolution looked like in the migration story. You can explore this from different perspectives. It may be personal such as beginning a new life in Australia, advocacy for other migrants, or how different Government policies impacted migration by sea. The choice is yours!

Visit the National History Challenge website to read more about the criteria, word limits and how to enter.

Find out more

We also encourage you to use our exhibitions and vessels to inspire a project about Conflict and Resolution in the Year Level category. 
 

You may wish to choose one of the following topics:

• Bark paintings from the Blue Mud Bay Native Title case
• Krait and Operation Jaywick 
• Finding Australia’s first submarine AE1 
• Duyfken: Conflict and reconciliation