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Good morning fellow graduates, today I am going to talk to you about why knowledge of conflicts
between Aboriginal people and European settlers will be important to you in your future careers in
education. I will start by explaining the frontier conflicts and will then make connections to how this
will help you in your future teaching careers.

The Australian frontier wars between the Indigenous Australians and the European settlers were a
series of conflicts than spanned over a period of 151 years. The first of these battles took place in
May 1788 and concluded in 1939. It is estimated that the overall Aboriginal fatalities were 20,000 at
a minimum whereas the European deaths have been estimated to only be between 2,000 and 2,500.
However, it is believed by David Kent, amongst others, that the Aboriginal fatalities is much higher as
some assume that the recorded deaths were the only deaths(Kent, 2008)

Although the early and initial interactions between Aboriginals and the Europeans was based on
curiosity with the newcomers, amazed by their huts, metal mugs, pans and books (Broome, 2010)
the Aboriginals were intrigued and were attracted by the food possessed by the Europeans.
However as time went on and Europeans took greater control over the land and threatened the
Aboriginal life, violence took over. The violence between Aboriginals and Europeans began just
months after the First Fleet established Sydney on 26th January, 1788. Conflict began when the
European presence led to competition over resources such as land and food, and European diseases
decimated Indigenous populations. In Port Phillip, it is estimated that within the first 2 decades of
settlement up to 10,750 Aboriginal people had died. Between 4000 and 5000 estimated to have died
from European disease while another 25% was from violence.(Broome, 2010)

There were a number of great massacres of Aboriginal people all around Australia in the times of the
frontier conflicts beginning first in 1816 along the Cataract River with the Gundungurra and
Dharawal people. Other massacres include the well known Myall Creek massacre, Port Arthur
massacre, Waterloo Creek massacre, Coniston massacre and many more. Each of these massacres
included the murder of Aboriginal men, women and children in brutal ways. It is evident that there
has been a dark and cruel history for the Aboriginal people specifically with the frontier conflicts. I
will now discuss why knowledge of these events is important for your future teaching careers.
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The first reason that frontier conflict knowledge will be important in your professional lives is that as
a teacher you deal with a variety of different students, specifically from different cultures and
backgrounds. You may choose to teach at an Aboriginal school or simply have an Aboriginal student
in your class and it helps to be aware of their cultures history and background. As a primary teacher,
we will have very open communication channels with our students parents and there may be
Aboriginal parents of students that feel very strongly about their ancestors brutal history with the
conflict on the frontier, or the stolen generation. It can be very beneficial to be widely read on the
conflict wars to be able to understand and more effectively communicate with Aboriginal students
and parents. There have been a number of suggestions of ways to engage parents from Indigenous
communities such as taking the teachers out to the communities, breakfast programs and even the
employment of a number of Aboriginal and Islander Education Officers. (Australian Government)
The Australian government has also made a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education
Policy with goals such as the involvement of Aboriginal people in the education decision making,
equality of access to education services, equality of educational participation and equitable
educational outcomes. (Australian government, 2010)
Aboriginal education is also supported by the National Catholic Education Commission with their
Educating for Justice, Truth and Reconciliation plan. This aims to enhance communication,
improve relationships, counter racism, address disadvantage and aim for reconciliation and renewal.
(National Catholic Education Commission) These initiatives from the Australian government and the
National Catholic Education Commission would be better implemented with the aid of well educated
teachers on the subject of Aboriginal Australian history.

The second reason that frontier conflict knowledge will be important to your professional lives is
that it is still a recurring and relevant issue that comes up in the media. As seen on the ABC news in
2010, they discussed how there was a campaign to give greater recognition to descendants of the
Appin massacre that occurred on April 17, 1816. It was said that 14 Aboriginal men, women and
children were shot while others were driven off a cliff. They push to return the land to the people
who originally lived there so that the story can be told, so it can be a place of healing said MP Phil
Costa. (ABC News, 2010)
Also in the media in 2010, the Indigenous massacre site of Myall Creek was given heritage
protection. About 30 Aboriginal people, consisting of men, women and children were murdered at
Myall Creek Station by European settlers in 1838. Tony Kelly, the planning minister, said its an
important part of the states history and that it is now protected with the states highest heritage
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protection. A memorial of the Myall Creek massacre victims was unveiled in 2001 and the event is
still commemorated every year. This shows that frontier conflicts is not just a part of history, it is still
a current topic that will reoccur on the news, in the papers and in peoples conversations. A student
might one day see something on the television about a massacre and will come to school and ask
about it, and it will be your job to give them an informed and appropriate answer.

The last reason I will discuss for why frontier conflict will be important in your future professional
lives is the presence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures in the cross
curriculum priorities in the upcoming AusVELS and Australian Curriculum. Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander histories and cultures are looked at in a variety of ways but importantly learning about
their presence in Australia for tens of thousands of years and their experiences can be viewed
through historical, social and political lenses. (ACARA, 2012) This directly inputs knowledge of
frontier conflict into the school curriculum. Clair Anderson believes that the new national curriculum
will require teacher education institutions to provide pre-service teachers with past and
contemporary experiences of Aboriginal Australians (Anderson, 2012), this including the front
conflicts.

I hope that I have successfully convinced you that being informed about the frontier conflicts
between the Aboriginal people and the European settlers will be invaluable to your future
professional lives as educators. There is a very brutal history for the Aboriginal people, that is still a
recurring issue in present day, knowing about it will definitely benefit in the education of and the
communication with Aboriginal students and parents. All students will also benefit from your
knowledge as Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures is a prominent
feature in the incoming National Australian Curriculum.
Frontier conflict will be an invaluable addition to your professional knowledge for teaching, and I
wish you good luck in your future careers.




Word Count: 1,210
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References:
Anderson, C. (2012). Teacher Education, Aboriginal Studies and the New National Curriculum. The
Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, v41. (Aug, 2012) p40-46. Retrieved from
http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy2.acu.edu.au/fullText;dn=747786644273431;res=IELIND
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority.(Date Unknown) The Australian
Curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au.
Australian Government. Family School partnerships framework. A guide for schools and families.
Retrieved from http://www.familyschool.org.au/pdf/framework.pdf
Australian Government. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy. Retrieved
from http://www.deewr.gov.au/Indigenous/Schooling/PolicyGuidelines/Pages/aep.aspx
Author Unknown. (2010). Indigenous massacre site given heritage protection. Retrieved September
25, 2012, from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-11-08/call-to-return-massacre-site-to-aboriginal-
people/2328714
Broome, Richard. Aboriginal Australians: A History Since 1788. 4th ed. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen &
Unwin, 2010.
Kent, D. (2006). Frontier Conflict and Aboriginal Deaths: How do we weigh the evidence?.Journal of
Australian Collonial History, volume 8. p23-42. Retrieved from
http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy1.acu.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=200610008;res=APAFT
National Catholic Education Commission. Educating for Justice, Truth and Reconciliation. Retrieved
from http://www.yarrahealing.catholic.edu.au/_uploads/fckpg/files/Educating-for-Justice.pdf
Tobin, M. (2010). Call to return massacre site to Aboriginal people. Retrieved September 25, 2012,
from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-11-08/call-to-return-massacre-site-to-aboriginal-
people/2328714
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.(2012, June 6). AusVELS. Retrieved from
http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/