What were the Gold Rushes? Why did people from all over the world get ‘gold fever’?

What was life like on the Ballarat goldfields of Victoria, on Wada Wurrung Country?

With so many different groups of people, how did everyone get along?

Did First Nations people mine gold too? What was the Eureka Stockade?

How did the Gold Rushes change Australia?

Students from Preshill Primary School and Westbourne Grammar in Melbourne tell us what they know about the Gold Rushes.

Fred Cahir, Andrew Pearce, Sarah Van de Wouw and an oral history about a Chinese miner share the different experiences of goldfields life.

How to use this episode in your classroom

• Play all the way through (28 minutes) or play half the episode (14 minutes) and pause.
• We'll tell you when you've reached halfway, and recap the episode.
• Use the 4 page Learning Materials worksheet PDF with your class, and find more resources on our website.

Voices

• Professor Fred Cahir is a professor in Australian History at Federation University.
• Andrew Pearce is the Learning Program Leader at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat.
• Sarah Van de Wouw is the Education Officer at the Eureka Centre, Ballarat.
• Gabrielle Wang interviewed by Anna Zhu for the Australians with Chinese heritage oral history project, from the National Library of Australia online catalog.

Episode image

Gold panning dish. Image courtesy of the National Museum of Australia.

Music

Lady Marie, Rush to the Clearing, Borough and Jespen by Blue Dot Sessions.