Share the defining moment that matters to you to be in the running to win $2,000 for your school. Open to Australian school students (K–12) | Entries close 15 September 2023. 

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]

1. Choose a defining moment

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

• Australia’s Defining Moments Digital Classroom
• Defining Moments in Australian History

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.

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

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.

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.