To celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence in Papua New Guinea, for the month of September Australian Policy and History is publishing policy briefs written by students studying at Honours, Masters or Doctoral levels who attended a June 2025 intensive workshop on Papua New Guinea and Australia, sponsored by DFAT and run by Deakin’s Centre for Contemporary Histories, at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.
Attention: Minister for Education, the Hon Jason Clare MP
Purpose
This paper concerns the Australian secondary education curriculum and the insufficient coverage it provides of our closest neighbour, Papua New Guinea (PNG). It proposes changes to the secondary education curriculum to enhance knowledge of PNG and our bilateral relationship among Australia’s citizenry.
Background
PNG is Australia’s closest neighbour and was administered for decades by Australia. It is one of only two nations which declared independence from Australia, and remains a critical partner 50 years after independence. However, many Australians know little about PNG. Despite our proximity and the historic ties between our nations, Australian secondary school students learn very little about PNG outside of war. The coverage of PNG in the secondary education curriculum which does exist is focussed almost entirely on war, with limited content concerning development. Australia’s Year 10 History curriculum includes content about the Kokoda Track and defending Australia against potential Japanese invasion representing central areas of study (Australian Curriculum), but this education is limited to Kokoda’s importance to the Pacific Theatre in the Second World War and its role in the ANZAC legend. This represents a missed opportunity to examine how Kokoda has shaped the Australia-PNG bilateral relationship and what it represents for our partnership.
Contemporary Implications
PNG remains the single largest recipient of Australian aid, receiving $500 million during the 2025-26 fiscal year, and an additional $207 million from Pacific-wide Australian aid (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). Despite this, Australia’s secondary education curriculum lacks a significant focus on PNG. The current geography curriculum for Years 7-10 emphasises case studies of countries for comparison with Australia, but a heavy focus on Asia limits consideration of the Pacific region. For Year 10 History, Study of the First World War completely overlooks Australia’s first military engagement, in September 1914. An Australian force was dispatched to German New Guinea, and suffered six casualties whilst capturing the installations at Bita Paka, marking Australia’s first casualties of the First World War (Australian War Memorial). In the aftermath of war, Australia was granted a League of Nations mandate to govern New Guinea, an administration which lasted, in various forms, for over 50 years. Yet it is not even mentioned in the part of the Year 10 History curriculum that is focussed on Australia and the First World War. Furthermore, Papuan and New Guinean soldiers fought for Australia in the Second World War, whose names are engraved on the walls of the Australian War Memorial. PNG thus played a central role in Australia’s experiences in both World War, yet it lacks dedicated study in the secondary curriculum, and the experiences of Papuans and New Guineans under the Australian administrations during both conflicts is ignored.
The Year 10 History curriculum also looks at the Cold War and Australia’s post-WWII engagement with our region and international organisations. Changing attitudes towards Asia are highlighted, but the Pacific is sidelined. Australia’s participation in the UN was shaped by its role as a trustee of PNG, but this is absent from the curriculum. Similarly, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam is highlighted as an important figure in Australia’s post-WWII history. However, his efforts in moving PNG towards self-government and then independence do not feature in the curriculum.
The result of this lack of focus on PNG in secondary education is that school students are insufficiently aware of our long and close ties with PNG, a deficiency that is not addressed once they conclude their schooling. As a nation, Australians know very little about PNG, and this limits the depth of our ties, and our willingness to forge closer connections or seize mutually beneficial opportunities (Lowy Institute).
Recommendations
- Promote visits from PNG diaspora members or PNG diplomatic staff to schools into Australia’s secondary school curriculum to promote cultural awareness.
- Introduce celebrations of PNG’s independence and our bilateral ties into Australia’s secondary social studies curriculum.
- Include Australia’s early First World War experiences in German New Guinea within the Year 9 History curriculum.
- Broaden the study of fighting in PNG during the Second World War within the Year 10 History curriculum to include perspectives and experiences of local people.
- Include the study of Australia’s post-WWII administration of PNG, its role in Australia’s relationship with the UN, and the Whitlam government’s role in the achievement of PNG’s independence within the Year 10 History curriculum.
- Emphasise Australian development assistance programs in PNG within the Year 10 Geography curriculum.
Contact: Elijah White
Student – Masters of International Relations, Deakin University
Email: elijah.r.white0@gmail.com
Sources consulted
2 – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/papua-new-guinea/development-assistance
3 – Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/forging/ww1/guinea
4 – Lowy Institute https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/embarrassed-colonialist