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History Makers

SCHOOL VIDEO CHALLENGE

Entries for our History Makers school video challenge are closed. Winners will be announced in early December 2023.

Thanks to all the students and teachers who shared the defining moments that matter to them.

Entry criteria

To be eligible for History Makers prizes and inclusion on the Digital Classroom website, entries must:

  • be between 30 seconds and 3 minutes long
  • be submitted as mp4, mov or m4v file types
  • be unique, artistic and created for the History Makers Challenge
  • include an Acknowledgement of Country and cultural and sensitivity warnings
  • credit external resources used in your video
  • demonstrate a clear understanding of what makes a defining moment
  • show how well your class works as a team
  • use technology in effective, innovative and unexpected ways
  • be accompanied by a short artist statement (maximum 100 words)

Teachers must also watch our History Makers tips video and help students ensure each entry includes the content warnings provided by the Museum, available in the downloadable PDF. Teachers must complete a final review of each video before the entry is submitted.

All entrants must comply with our History Makers terms and conditions.

Need more information? Email [email protected]

How to enter

1. Choose a defining moment

Research a moment that matters to your class, school, community or nation. You might find inspiration on our websites:

Or tell us about a moment that is unique to your local area.

2. Choose a category

Prizes will be awarded to 10 winners ($2,000 each) and 10 runners up ($500 each) in these categories. Each video can be entered into one category only.

Collaboration Show us how well you work as a team. We are looking for videos that showcase collaboration between classmates or other community members.
Regional stories Do you live in regional or remote Australia? Tell us about a defining moment and what it means to your local community.
Creativity Be imaginative! In this category we’ll award prizes for unique, artistic and original ideas.
Environment Represent your understanding or passion for our environment. Use sustainable resources in the design and creation of your video.
3. Watch our tips video

This video is designed for teachers and students to learn how to use cultural protocols, sensitivity warnings and how to add copyright acknowledgements to video entries. 

Content from the National Museum can generally be used, with a credit, in History Makers videos. More on copyright

Digital support
4. Create a video

Collaborate in your category to produce a video about your chosen defining moment. Stage a play, perform a dance, create a film, create artworks, make a documentary, produce an animation and surprise the Museum with your creativity. Your video must be at least 30 seconds long and no longer than 3 minutes.

Be sure to apply the relevant warnings and credits to your video, using the examples provided.

5. Share your video with us and the world!

Submit your video to History Makers challenge and your school will be in the running to win up to $2,000. Teachers must submit all entries on behalf of their students or school and the Museum will share the winning entries on our Digital Classroom website after prizes are awarded.

2022 prize-winning videos

Thanks to the students across Australia who submitted entries in our first History Makers challenge, including the prize-winners, whose videos might help inspire this year's winners.

Video contributions reflect the views and opinions of individual contributors and are not the Museum’s views.

A group of school children and two men are standing on a stage below a digital screen. The screen features a sketch of children with a banner with the text 'History Makers Challenge'.

About the History Makers School Challenge 

Australia’s Defining Moments Digital Classroom is produced by the National Museum of Australia with the generous support of Gandel Foundation. 

Our award-winning online education resource was launched in 2020. 

The History Makers School Video Challenge is an extension of the Digital Classroom and is also sponsored by the Gandel Foundation.

The video challenge began in 2022.