How has Australia changed in your life time?

Physical

• Droughts
• Floods
• Building of the Olympic Park

We can find out about the physical changes through research on the Internet or from past documents and other sources of information. We can also use old weather charts to find out about the droughts and floods that happened in Australia.

Droughts

Australia has suffered severe droughts in its northern and eastern regions during many EL Niño years. These droughts have reduced crop yields, killed livestock, eroded soils and encouraged destructive bush fires. The El Niño event of 1982-83 coincided with a drought that may have been the worst for 100 years. The 1982 winter rains failed over the south-eastern grain and pasture areas of Australia. In northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, the summer rains also failed. The drought was broken in the autumn of 1983 by torrential rains in eastern Australia. Sheep, weakened by the drought, suffered severely: many were drowned or starved, and foot-rot caused many lengthier deaths.

Socio-economic change

• Financial Crisis
• More money in Australia
• Mining

We can find out about the socio-economic changes by looking at old financial records of Australia through the years. We can find out if Australia is continuing to gain money or if it is continuing to lose money. But we don't know what will happen in the future.

Mining 
The mining industry has been a great turn around for Australia and its socioeconomic status within the world. Since Australia is a relatively new country it has many resources available such as a major fuel, coal. This is very good for Australia's economy because China, a country that is booming with a growing population is in demand for coal and Australia has to coal they need. This means that Australia even in a GFC is able to grow as a country and have more money within there economy. 

Cultural Change

• Asylum Seekers
• The Stolen Generation
• More woman in parliament 
• Population

Cultural changes have happened throughout Australia but where can we find information? From the Stolen Generation we can find out information through carvings on rocks, stories told by the ancestors and even past documents written at the time. This is basically the same with the others.

The Stolen Generation
"The Stolen Generation" is a phrase, which is now familiar to most Australians. It speaks of the suffering and sometimes permanent damage caused to many Aboriginal children unjustly removed from their families and frequently raised in institutions. This essay will look at the issues brought about from the stolen generation, the role of the government as well as the long lasting effects.

The stolen generation occurred between the years 1910 and 1970 mainly in rural Australia. It involved the removal of full blood aboriginal children as well as "half-castes" from their families, to be placed in institutions or foster care with a white family. The negative consequences of removing the children cannot be under estimated. For the majority of people involved, the effects have been "multiple and profoundly disabling."