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This paper examines how government approaches to education were contested by Aboriginal communities in the late 1930s, through organised political actions designed in part to ensure access to the same standard of education and schooling available to non-Aboriginal people. It explores some of the ways that Aboriginal campaigns for education were enacted, focusing on the Cummeragunja Aboriginal reserve in New South Wales, when, in 1939, hundreds of residents walked off to protest to the New South Wales Aborigines Protection Board over the repressive conditions, the reserve manager, and the teacher and curriculum of the Cummeragunja school. The strike aimed to generate several changes at Cummeragunja, including the appointment of a new teacher, and the delivery of curriculum that was at the same standard as that delivered in other government schools in NSW. These demands were not unique to the Cummeragunja community as, throughout south-eastern Australia, Aboriginal communities were fighting for access to education alongside campaigns for land and greater civil rights.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways that history curriculum has worked to legitimise dispossession through narratives that elide questions of Indigenous sovereignty, and which construct and consolidate white settler identity and possession. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses two case studies to compare history education documentation and materials at key moments where dominant narratives of settler legitimacy were challenged in public discourse: (1) the post-war humanitarian agenda of fostering "international understanding" and; (2) the release and educational recommendations of the 1997 "Bringing them Home Report." Findings: The paper shows that in two moments where narratives of settler legitimacy were challenged in public discourse, the legitimacy of settler possession was reiterated in history curricula in various ways. Practical implications: This research suggests that the prevailing constructivist framework for history education has not sufficiently challenged criticisms of the representation of Aboriginal history and the history of settler-colonialism in the history syllabus. Originality/value: The paper introduces two case studies of history curriculum and shows how, in different but resonant ways, curricular reforms worked to bolster the liberal credentials of the settler state.

Purpose: This paper draws on the archival records of the Victorian Education Department, literature produced by the governing authority of Tally Ho (the Central Mission), and newspaper reports produced in the mid-20th century about school and education at Tally Ho. This paper also draws on material from the Victorian Aborigines Welfare Board and the Northern Territory Department of Welfare, as well as two historical key government inquiries into the institutionalisation of children. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses Tally Ho Boys' Training Farm as a case study to examine the intersection of welfare systems, justice systems and schooling and education for Aboriginal children in institutions like Tally Ho in the mid-20th century. Further, it provides perspectives on how institutions such as Tally Ho were utilised by governments in Victoria and the Northern Territory to pursue different agendas -- sometimes educational -- particular to Aboriginal children. This paper also explores how histories can be reconstructed when archives are missing or silent about histories of Aboriginal childhood. Findings: This paper demonstrates how governments used Tally Ho to control and govern the lives of Aboriginal children. By drawing together archives from a range of bodies and authorities who controlled legislation and policies, this paper contributes new understandings about the role of institutions in Victoria to the assimilation policies of Victoria and the Northern Territory in the mid-20th century. Originality/value: Scholarship on the institutionalisation of children in the post-war era in Victoria, including the ways that schooling and justice systems were experienced by children living in care, has failed to fully engage with the experiences of Aboriginal children. Historians have given limited attention to the experiences of Aboriginal children living in institutions off Aboriginal reserves in Victoria. There has been limited historical scholarship examining the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children at Tally Ho. This paper broadens our understandings about how Aboriginal children encountered institutionalisation in Victoria.

Around the Meeting Tree is a website and digital archive that tells the story of the Tranby Aboriginal Education Co-operative, an Indigenous-controlled education institution in Australia. The site provides access to a wide range of resources created by students and staff of Tranby, including newsletters, photographs, posters, and interviews. It highlights the importance of Tranby in addressing the failures of Australian school systems and providing education that responded to the needs of Indigenous communities. The site also emphasizes Tranby's role as a meeting place and nexus of activism, networking, community, and learning. Overall, Around the Meeting Tree is a significant contribution to the history of Indigenous-controlled education and challenges the marginalization of Aboriginal education in historiography. [Extracted from the article]