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Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander perspectives

English sample resources

These resources support teachers to embed the cross-curriculum priority 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures' in the Australian Curriculum: English.

English is organised into three interrelated strands: language, literature and literacy. Each strand interacts with and enriches the others in creative and flexible ways.

The tables below identify content descriptions across the strands, as a starting point for teachers' decision-making about how to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. There are, of course, many other opportunities to support this cross-curriculum priority in the curriculum.

The identified curriculum links are supported by sample learning experiences and resources, which may be included in teaching and learning programs. When planning, check with your local community about resources to use — they may be able to suggest others that are more suitable — and how to implement them effectively in your classroom.

Note: Some resources are intended for teachers' background information and may not be suitable for use with students in the classroom without significant prior support or scaffolding.

All links were correct at the time of publication.

Language strand Literature strand Literacy strand
Language variation and change: Understand that English is one of many languages spoken in Australia and that different languages may be spoken by family, classmates and community. ACELA1426 Literature and context: Recognise that texts are created by authors who tell stories and share experiences that may be similar or different to students’ own experiences. ACELT1575 Teachers choose appropriate literacy content descriptions for their students.
 Examining literature: Identify some features of texts including events and characters and retell events from a text. ACELT1578 
 Examining literature: Replicate the rhythms and sound patterns in stories, rhymes, songs and poems from a range of cultures. ACELT1579  
Learning experiencesResources
Children read and listen to texts that include both Standard Australian English and Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages. The State Library of Queensland website provides access to virtual books that use Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages. For example, children can read and listen to:
  • Gudjal language from around Charters Towers in the picture word book My Countryby William Santo
  • the story of Emily, a Gamilaraay girl, in the book Original girl (Mari Miyay), written by her mother, Michelle Witheyman-Crump, with Gamilaraay translation.
An Indigenous language map can be viewed on the ABC website. The map attempts to represent all of the language, tribal or nation groups of the Indigenous people of Australia.  
The Australian Storytelling website features a transcript of an interview with Pauline McLeod, an Aboriginal storyteller, about Aboriginal storytelling and the tradition of Aboriginal stories.  
Children listen to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural stories and identify some features related to characters and events. An introduction to the Dreaming and its origins can be found on the Australian Government website.
This emusic website provides Dreaming stories narrated by David Hudson.  
The QCAA website provides a resource that explores the importance of storytelling in its many forms.  
Children use sounds to enhance a story. How the birds got their colours is a Dreaming story.
The Creative Spirits website provides information on music written and/or performed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Language strand Literature strand Literacy strand
Teachers choose appropriate language content descriptions for their students. Literature and context: Discuss how authors create characters using language and images. ACELT1581 Texts in context: Respond to texts drawn from a range of cultures and experiences. ACELY1655
Examining literature: Listen to, recite and perform poems, chants, rhymes and songs, imitating and inventing sound patterns including alliteration and rhyme. ACELT1585   
Learning experiencesResources
Children look at the art used in Aboriginal stories and determine the meaning of the symbols used. Central Art provides an analysis of Aboriginal symbols used in Kangaroo, Rain, Flying Ant, Possum Dreaming by Denis Nelson Jupurrula. A glossary of Aboriginal
symbols used in specific artworks, and their meanings, with a handout of the glossary, is also available.
The Cultural Warriors education resource from the National Gallery of Australia offers 30 full-colour artwork reproductions accompanied by an audio track that provides a context to the work.  
Note: It is important to follow protocols when using artwork/symbols owned by Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Information on protocols, developed by the State Library of Queensland, will help you ensure culturally appropriate use
of Aboriginal collections and Torres Strait Islander collections. 		 
Children listen to and perform songs by Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Christine Anu and the Wiggles performance of ‘Taba Naba’, a children’s song from the Torres Strait Islands, is available on the Wiggles DVD It’s a Wiggly, Wiggly World (2000). Versions of the song may also be available on YouTube.
The book Hooked on Rhymes, illustrated by Masayuki Nakachi, contains rhymes and poems familiar to preschool children in the Torres Strait Islands.
Aboriginal and Islander Early Childhood Curriculum Development Unit 1989, Hooked on Rhymes: Rhymes and poems familiar to preschool children in the Torres Strait Islands,
Department of Education, Qld. 		 
Aunty Wendy's Mob is a fun, interactive and educational presentation based on the songs from their CDs.  
Children explore some of the meanings and teachings embedded in Dreaming stories. An introduction to the Dreaming and its origins can be found on the Australian Government website.
This emusic website provides Dreaming stories narrated by David Hudson.
Language strand Literature strand Literacy strand
Language variation and change: Understand that spoken, visual and written forms of language are different modes of communication with different features and their use varies according to the audience, purpose, context and cultural background. ACELA1460 Teachers choose appropriate content descriptions and literature for their students (see suggestions below). Teachers choose appropriate literacy content descriptions for their students.
Learning experiencesResources
Children explore Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander spoken and visual storytelling through artwork and written versions of these stories. They identify the features common to each and the features important to the cultures of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Spoken storytelling: How the echidna got its spikes is told by students.
Written storytelling: The Magic Colours written byCecilia Egan and illustrated by Elizabeth Alger, tells a Dreaming story. Published in 2006 by Gecko Books, Marleston, SA.  
The QCAA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages P–10 Syllabus promotes active engagement and communication between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and learning in shared cultural spaces.  
The State Library of Queensland provides links to the Indigenous language centres currently operating in Queensland.
Language strand Literature strand Literacy strand
Language variation and change: Understand that languages have different written and visual communication systems, different oral traditions and different ways of constructing meaning. ACELA1475 Literature and context: Discuss texts in which characters, events and settings are portrayed in different ways, and speculate on the authors’ reasons. ACELT1594 Teachers choose appropriate literacy content descriptions for their students.
 Responding to literature: Draw connections between personal experiences and the worlds of texts, and share responses with others. ACELT1596  
 Creating literature: Create texts that adapt language features and patterns encountered in literary texts, for example characterisation, rhyme, rhythm, mood, music, sound effects and dialogue. ACELT1791  
Learning experiencesResources
Students explore the characters, events and settings of a story. They compare the story with one of their own favourite books, and as a small group draw a Venn diagram to show differences and similarities between worldviews. My Country, written by Ezekiel Kwaymullina and Sally Morgan, explores love of Country.
The Stolen Girl, is a fictional story based on Stolen Generation stories, written by Trina Saffioti and Norma MacDonald.  
Putuparri and the Rainmakers is a universal story about the sacred relationship between people and place, told in film.  
Students read a text and discuss its concepts. They think about times that they have gone into new situations — such as starting school, travelling to a new place or staying with people — and make links to experiences of first contact for Aboriginal peoples. The Rabbits, written by John Marsden and illustrated by Shaun Tan is an allegorical story of colonisation.
Eric, a short story written and illustrated by Shaun Tan, tells the story of an unusual visitor.  
The Lost Girl, by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Leanne Tobin, follows a young girl who becomes separated from her family on Country.  
Students engage with rhyme, rhythm and characterisation through the unique lens of an Aboriginal perspective. They can create their own texts that use rhythm and rhyme and other effects to build characterisation. Too many cheeky dogs, written by Dion Beasley and Johanna Bell, uses rhythm and rhyme extensively.
Silly Birds, Kookoo Kookaburra and Mad Magpie, written by Gregg Dreise, all have teacher notes available at the publisher’s website.  
Students engage with ‘Stories to unite us’ — a unit of work that provides opportunities to explore the ideas that:
  • people are precious and unique
  • Aboriginal Australians have an oral storytelling tradition
  • Aboriginal cultures and Torres Strait Islander cultures are represented throughout Australia.
 World Vision Australia and the Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA) have produced units of work to integrate the teaching and learning of English and global citizenship education.
The unit ‘Stories to unite us’ enables students to explore aspects of Aboriginal cultures through the picture books You and Me: Our Place and Stories from the Billabong.
You and Me: Our Place, written by Leonie Norrington and illustrated by Dee Huxley, highlights the connections between young and old Aboriginal Australians, and between cultures.
Stories from the Billabong is a collection of traditional Aboriginal stories from the Yorta Yorta people, retold by James Vance Marshall and illustrated by Francis Firebrace.
Language strand Literature strand Literacy strand
Language variation and change: Understand that Standard Australian English is one of many social dialects used in Australia, and that while it originated in England it has been influenced by many other languages. ACELA1487 Teachers choose appropriate content descriptions and literature for their students (see suggestions below). Teachers choose appropriate literacy content descriptions for their students.
Learning experiencesResources
Students identify words used in Standard Australian English that are derived from other languages, including Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages, and determine whether the original meaning is reflected in English usage. Collection of Words, presented by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) library, is an online exhibition of Indigenous word lists compiled by Edward M Curr (1820–1889) and R Brough Smyth (1830–1889).
The State Library of Queensland holds an extensive collection of materials about all aspects of Australian languages.
Language strand Literature strand Literacy strand
Language variation and change: Understand that the pronunciation, spelling and meanings of words have histories and change over time. ACELA1500Literature and context: Identify aspects of literary texts that convey details or information about particular social, cultural and historical contexts. ACELT1608 Teachers choose appropriate literacy content descriptions for their students.
Language for interaction: Understand that patterns of language interaction vary across social contexts and types of texts and that they help to signal social roles and relationships. ACELA1501Examining literature: Recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed from different viewpoints, which can lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses. ACELT1610 
Learning experiencesResources
Students explore loanwords from Aboriginal languages that are commonly used in daily Australian life, such as boomerang and kangaroo. They investigate the changes these words have undergone as meanings were understood or misunderstood, and spelt in various ways. Students can use this as an opportunity to research their local area and explore the local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander history. The State Library of Queensland has a page discussing Aboriginal loanwords in English.
The radio program Lingua Franca showcased words adopted into Standard and Aboriginal Englishes in ‘Aboriginal loanwords in Australian English: Lost and found’ with Maria Zijlstra and Pam Peters.  

Students work in pairs or small groups to unpack the moral values and social roles in an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island tale. They discuss the use of stories as a way of teaching beliefs and values.

Stories Under Tagai tells traditional Stories from the Torres Strait in short videos.
Our Dreaming, part of the Kuril Dhagun collection, offers a range of stories told by young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytellers, using animation.
The story of Atmer and Gelam is told in language by Elimo Tapim from Mer Island, Torres Strait.
A QCAA resource outlines the many facets of storytelling in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
Students examine and analyse the historical, social and cultural contexts of a particular event in history through relevant text/s. The well-known song “From Little Things Big Things Grow” by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody tells the story of the Gurindji people’s struggle for their land.
“The Wave Hill Walk Off”: the story behind the song. Wave Hill Station was established on Gurindji lands by British pastoralists in the 1880s. On 23 August 1966, the Wave Hill workers and their families, led by Gurindji spokesman Vincent Lingiari, walked off the station on strike.  
Wave Hill sources and resources is produced by the Australian Council of Trade Unions to share the history of this landmark struggle.  
K’gari SBS documentary is an interactive story focusing on diffferent perspectives on and early interaction between colonisers and the Butchulla Aboriginal people.  
Students explore how differing worldviews and viewpoints lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses. Some information on the traditional owners of Fraser Island — the  Butchulla people — is presented by the Department of National Parks, Sport and Racing.
K’gari SBS documentary is an interactive story focusing on diffferent perspectives on and early interaction between colonisers and the Butchulla Aboriginal people.  
The Mabo decision is outlined in this National Reconciliation Week factsheet.  
Students engage with ‘People, place, language and song’ — a unit of work that provides opportunities to explore the ideas that:
  • Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples are Australia's Indigenous peoples
  • they express their cultures in many ways
  • language and land are important to the identity of Aboriginal cultures and Torres Strait Islander cultures
  • people, place, language and song are connected in many ways.
 World Vision Australia and the Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA) have produced units of work to integrate the teaching and learning of English and global citizenship.
The unit of work ‘People, place, language and song’ explores the concepts of place, language and song as they relate to Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their cultures.
Multimodal texts used include music video clips, the picture book Nyuntu Ninti (What you Should Know) by Bob Randall and Melanie Hogan, and My Island Home by Neil Murray, illustrated by children from Papunya and Galiwinku, and with paintings by Peter Hudson.
An Indigenous language map can be viewed on the ABC website. The map attempts to represent all of the language, tribal or nation groups of the Indigenous people of Australia.  
Stories Under Tagai tells traditional Stories from the Torres Strait in short videos.
Language strand Literature strand Literacy strand
Language variation and change: Understand that different social and geographical dialects or accents are used in Australia in addition to Standard Australian English. ACELA1515 Teachers choose appropriate content descriptions and literature for their students (see suggestions below). Teachers choose appropriate literacy content descriptions for their students.
Learning experiencesResources
Students explore some of the 150+ Aboriginal languages and two Torres Strait Islander languages and how they relate to geographic areas in Australia. They appreciate that all languages and dialects are of equal value, and the different contexts where they are used. An Indigenous language map can be viewed on the ABC website. The map attempts to represent all of the language, tribal or nation groups of the Indigenous people of Australia.
Holding our tongues is an ABC Radio National Hindsight project about the painstaking task of reviving Aboriginal languages. Listen to examples of languages, watch videos or find out more about the project.
Language strand Literature strand Literacy strand
Teachers choose appropriate language content descriptions for their students. Literature and context: Identify and explore ideas and viewpoints about events, issues and characters represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts. ACELT1619 Teachers choose appropriate literacy content descriptions for their students.
 Examining literature: Recognise and analyse the ways that characterisation, events and settings are combined in narratives, and discuss the purposes and appeal of different approaches. ACELT1622 
Learning experiencesResources
Students explore the ways the history, culture and literary heritage of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples are represented in a variety of texts.
They identify, explain and compare viewpoints on events and issues presented in these texts. 		Stories Under Tagai tells traditional Stories from the Torres Strait in short videos.
The Margaret Lawrie Collection at the State Library of Queensland is the culmination of the life's work of Margaret Lawrie, documenting the history, languages and cultures of the Torres Strait Islander peoples.  
Students analyse and explain the structure and features of short stories and other narratives written by Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples. They analyse the text structures and language elements authors use in these texts and discuss the purposes and appeal of these different authorial choices for structure and language The book Too Flash, by Melissa Lucashenko, written from a young Indigenous girl’s perspective, provides opportunities to analyse and explain the structure and features of a story written by an Aboriginal person.
Lucashenko, M 2002, Too Flash, IAD Press, Alice Springs.
AustLit provides a research environment for Australian literature, including ‘BlackWords’, a resource relating to the lives and stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and storytellers. It includes works in English and in Indigenous languages.
Language strand Literature strand Literacy strand
Teachers choose appropriate language content descriptions for their students. Literature and context: Explore the interconnectedness of Country and Place, people, identity and culture in texts, including those by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors. ACELT1806 Teachers choose appropriate literacy content descriptions for their students.
Learning experiencesResources
World Vision Australia and the Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA) have produced units of work to integrate the teaching and learning of English and global citizenship education. These units of work are designed to provide opportunities for students to engage meaningfully with the three interrelated Australian Curriculum: English strands of Literature, Literacy and Language. The unit of work ‘Ways of being’ enables students to explore ideas of cultural identity — specifically Aboriginal identity — and belonging, and how these are embedded in language.
Texts used include Aboriginal English resources, Indigenous poetry and rap, the books My Girragundji and The Binna Binna Man by Meme McDonald and Boori Monty Pryor, and Aboriginal storytelling in a range of media and forms.
The unit provides opportunities to explore the ideas that:
  • Aboriginal English is a valid, expressive and potent statement of Aboriginal identity
  • cultural identity is strongly expressed and developed through shared language and stories
  • maintaining cultural identity is very important to Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples
  • Aboriginal culture and Torres Strait Islander culture can be seen as both traditional and contemporary and that old ways can be expressed in new ways.
Language strand Literature strand Literacy strand
Teachers choose appropriate language content descriptions for their students. Literature and context: Interpret and compare how representations of people and culture in literary texts are drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts. ACELT1633Texts in context: Analyse how the construction and interpretation of texts, including media texts, can be influenced by cultural perspectives and other texts. ACELY1739
 Responding to literature: Reflect on, discuss and explore notions of literary value and how and why such notions vary according to context. ACELT1634 
Learning experiencesResources
Students analyse literary texts created by Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people (including poetry, novels and excerpts from novels, plays, essays, picture books; these literary texts may be print, audio and multimodal). They consider the different ways these texts represent people, places, objects and issues. AustLit provides a research environment for Australian literature scholars, including ‘BlackWords’, a resource relating to the lives and stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and storytellers. It includes works in English and in Indigenous languages.
The State Library of Queensland’s collection of materials pertaining to Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples includes photographs, ephemera, posters, oral histories and digital stories.  
Students view a film that presents a story from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander perspective. They interpret the film and examine how the audience is positioned by the text.
Students use the examination of the film to consider whether it should be valued as a significant literary text, giving reasons to support the conclusions drawn. They compare their views on the film’s literary value. 		The film Too many Captain Cooks(1989) is an example of an Indigenous perspective on the historical figure of Captain Cook and all that he symbolises.
The book on which the film Too many Captain Cooks is based is another useful resource.
Tucker, A 1994, Too many Captain Cooks, Omnibus, Norwood, SA. 		 
Students explore the Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples given by then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. They interpret and analyse the text structures, language elements and other aspects of the text used to position the audience. Students determine the purpose and audience for the speech and consider why the author constructed the speech in this way to suit the purpose and audience. The full text of the Apology is available in various locations.  
Responses from Aboriginal peoples to the Apology to Australia’s Indigenous peoples are available on the State Library of Queensland website.  
Australia’s apology one year on offers both an article, and an audio of Dr Tom Calma reflecting on the Apology to the Stolen Generations.  
Tiga Bayles — response to the 2008 Apology is a short video reflecting on the Apology. Other stories in this series are also available through the State Library of Queensland’s YouTube channel.  
In Telling Our Stories — Our stolen generations Florence Onus talks about four generations of her family’s children being institutionalised and the effects in her life. Other stories in this series are also available through the Healing Foundation’s YouTube channel.  
The Archie Roach song 'Took the children away', with lyrics, responds describes the pain of the Stolen Generations.
Language strand Literature strand Literacy strand
Language for interaction: Understand how language use can have inclusive and exclusive social effects, and can empower or disempower people. ACELA1564 Teachers choose appropriate content descriptions and literature for their students (see suggestions below). Texts in context: Analyse and evaluate how people, cultures, places, events, objects and concepts are represented in texts, including media texts, through language, structural and/or visual choices. ACELY1749
Learning experiencesResources
Students analyse an Acknowledgement of Country or write one for a school event. They reflect on the text to consider how the language used may affect their audience. Information on the difference between a Welcome to Country and an Acknowledgement of Country and how to organise them can be found on the QCAA website.
Reconciliation Australia offers a brief summary of Welcomes and Acknowledgments.
Australians Together explores the value of welcome and acknowledgment rituals.
Students analyse the ways sociocultural values, attitudes and beliefs are presented in news texts published by commercial media and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander media. They compare the ways news is reported in these different media outlets. The Koori Mail is a fortnightly national Indigenous newspaper. It provides news, views, advertisements and other material of interest to Indigenous Australians and Australians interested in Indigenous affairs.
ABC Indigenous is an online portal for Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The portal is designed to reflect current issues in the Indigenous community.  
This Sydney Morning Herald article showcases Indigenous fathers and their children responding to a cartoon by Bill Leak, printed in the Australian, implying that dysfunctional families are the cause of the high rate of incarceration of indigenous youth. Aboriginal families took to social media to counter this view with a mass demonstration of love for their families.  
This article explores common misrepresentations in mainstream media coverage of Aboriginal issues.
Last updated:
25 July 2018

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