Tanya Evans with family historian and CoAsIt member Maria Linders, SLNSW (Photo by Joy Lai, 2017)

Twenty-five years ago, researchers carried out an ARC-funded survey about how Australians discover, think about and use the past in their lives. Since then, the digital revolution has created new venues for disseminating and learning about history. There is now an urgent need to investigate tensions over the use of history and ‘the past’ in contemporary Australia.

The study asks how Australians access, learn about, value and use their history in the twenty-first century to help researchers identify how more critical and creative engagement with Australian history can be encouraged.

The study is funded by the Australian Research Council and is a direct response to the increasing tensions over how Australian history and heritage is understood and used in the context of the rise of social media. 

Misinformation and disinformation about the past and its meaning for the present contribute to significant tensions between different groups in Australia. Through a range of different data sources – including social survey, focus groups, interviews, amongst other methods – the project will investigate how and why history matters to today’s society.  It will consider how understanding of and engagement with history and its use in the present may differ, and have different consequences for, individuals and groups based on their personal identities and backgrounds.