Topic

Australians make heroes of their most famous sportsmen and women, with the cricketer Sir Donald Bradman, Olympian Cathy Freeman and the racehorse Phar Lap among the most celebrated figures in the Australian sporting scene.

Find resources and information on the history and role of sport in Australian society, and its unique place in the Australian cultural landscape.

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education for Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 students. Students will engage with a rich selection of sources and be challenged to draw their own conclusions about the role of sport in Australia’s culture and history.

The Library has recently digitised the speeches of Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG.

A dedicated space for readers to view and research material from the Library's special collections.

American cartographic expert Emeritus Professor Dennis Reinhartz discussed the exploration and charting of the Americas and the Pacific undertaken by the Spanish from the 15th to the 18th centuries with map collector, curator and author Emeritus Professor Robert Clancy.

Hugh Tranter

The microfilm collection includes 78 manuscripts copied by the South Pacific Commission, created by missionaries, anthropologists, and linguists between 1900 and 1956. 

Coral Vass and Dub Leffler

John Shortis presented his 2024 National Folk Fellowship research into Australian protest songs.