Read the information about convict transportation in the Defining Moment in Australian history: 1833 Convict transportation to Australia peaks when nearly 7000 people arrive in one year. Use that information to answer these questions. You might need to do some further research to answer some of the questions.

1. Who were the convicts?

2. What skills were needed in the new colony?

3. How did the attitudes and policies of successive governors affect them?

4. The convicts mostly came from Britain and Ireland where the climate was very different. How might the new Australian environment have affected them?

5. What were interactions between convicts and Aboriginal people like? How do you think this affected the convicts and Aboriginal people?

6. How did being part of a shared community help the convicts?

7. What were the greatest problems they faced?

8. What does this Defining Moment help you understand about the migration experience of this group?

9. Why was this Defining Moment so significant in Australian history?

10. If you were advising the National Museum of Australia on an object (primary source) that it could display to tell the story of this event and challenge and educate national and international visitors, what would you suggest? (You can see what objects they actually have using the National Museum of Australia collections search)

11. The curriculum area which you are studying here is titled: Making a better world? How do you think a convict transported to Australia might respond to this idea?