ABSTRACT
In September 1999 the Commonwealth Minister of Education, Dr David Kemp, announced a national inquiry into school history. The setting up of such an inquiry for history was not only unprecedented but also something of a surprise; in Adelaide, in the same year, a declaration issued by the Federal Minister and his state counterparts had outlined a national focus on curriculum development initiatives in very different areas, for example science, technology and vocational education. In the Adelaide declaration, history had not been mentioned. However, in launching the national inquiry into school history, Dr Kemp had stressed a perceived link between an exploration of the teaching and learning of history and recent federal initiatives in civics and citizenship education. It was this view of that relationship that had provided the political will to produce the funding for the national inquiry into school history.
