Federation and the New Australian Nation
Download a five-page Year 6 history worksheet on Federation, covering why the colonies joined, what changed in 1901 and the symbols of the new nation.
- Subject
- History
- Year group
- Year 6
- Curriculum topic
- Federation and the formation of the Commonwealth of Australia
- Download
About this resource
Ready to print, adapt and use.
This worksheet takes students from the six separate British colonies through to the opening of the first Commonwealth Parliament. It begins with an illustrated scene of the ceremony at the Royal Exhibition Building, then moves through history vocabulary, sorting the reasons for Federation into categories, multiple-choice checks on the key changes, a timeline ordering task and an extended written response.
Use it as supplied or edit the worksheet to focus on your own state's path to Federation. The closing questions ask students to explain why Federation mattered and to consider who was left out of the new nation.
Teaching notes
The sorting task is worth doing before the multiple choice. Students who have grouped the reasons themselves answer the 1901 questions far more confidently than those who have only read them.
The timeline contains one deliberate subtlety: the colonies became states at the same moment they federated, so those two statements describe a single event and its consequence. That's worth discussing rather than marking strictly.
The closing questions ask students to judge rather than recall. If your class needs extending, ask which reason for Federation they think mattered most, and whether the people excluded from full rights in 1901 would have agreed that the new nation was a success.
Learning objectives
- Explain why the Australian colonies wanted to federate.
- Describe what changed when the Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901.
- Explain how Parliament and national symbols helped build a new national identity.
What’s included
- Five pages of classroom-ready activities
- History vocabulary matching
- Sorting the reasons for Federation into categories
- Multiple-choice checks and a timeline ordering task
- An extended written response using key vocabulary
Example PDF
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