National History Challenge

Related topics

Learning topicMigration

Photo showing a group of school students holding certificates.

The Australian National Maritime Museum is a proud sponsor of the Migration category in the National History Challenge. The challenge is a free competition for Australian primary and secondary students and is organised by the History Teachers’ Association of Australia (HTAA).

Congratulations to our 2025 national winner, Aseni Gnanadasa, from St Margaret’s Berwick Grammar in Victoria! Senior Learning Officer, Tamsin Birch, presented Aseni with her medal and certificate at the awards ceremony on the 24th November 2025 at Parliament House in Canberra.

The theme for 2026 is “Voices”.

“The National History Challenge gives students a chance to be historians, researching world history, examining Australia’s past, investigating their community or exploring their own roots. It emphasises and rewards quality research, the use of community resources and effective presentation.”

Special category - Migration

As part of the Migration category, your entry must address migration to Australia by sea and its historical significance to Australia. The Maritime Museum would like students to research the story of a person, group of people, or event that made people journey across the sea to call Australia their home.

You can cover any period of history and we encourage projects about personal stories and the use of primary sources from the Maritime Museum, your own life or other institutes.

All entries in this special category must state how they have used or been inspired by resources from the Australian National Maritime Museum.

This could include:

Content on the Maritime Museum’s website
Object/s from the National Maritime collection
Research using resources from the Museum’s Vaughan Evans library
Exhibitions, monuments or vessels at the Maritime Museum.

For this year’s “Voices” theme you could consider the following for your project:

Research the narratives, experiences and perspectives of people who have migrated by sea to Australia in the past
Explore how individuals or migrant communities expressed themselves, influenced events and left records that shape our understanding of Australia’s migration history
The diverse and sometimes overlooked “voices” that provide a richer insight into the history of migration in Australia

Visit the National History Challenge website to read more about the criteria, word limits and how to enter.

Find out more

Migration collection items

Vietnamese refugee boat TỰ DO

Matchbox from Japan

Oscar Speck’s passport

Human Rights Award presented to Captain Arne Rinnan and crew of MV TAMPA from the people of Australia

Our Precious Things We Left Behind

Mall Karp's spectacles

1 - 6

Black and white photo on yellowed paper showing A young girl and a woman are pictured standing behind the railing on the deck of a ship. The girl wears a large bow in her hair.

We Are Many- Stories of Australia’s Migrants

This 300-page e-book brings together 71 migration stories previously published in the Australian National Maritime Museum’s ‘Signals’ Magazine. We introduce migrants from various times and countries of origin whose stories speak to universal themes such as love, adventure, family, safety and striving for a better life. We expose stories of extraordinary courage, resilience, success and celebration, deep despair and injustice.

Creating a Nation: Modern Immigration Stories

Created by ABC Education in collaboration with the Australian National Maritime Museum, this series tells the story of 6 people who crossed the seas to settle in Australia.