The Past in the Present: Understanding Australian Attitudes to History

ABSTRACT Every year, millions of Australians choose to read popular history and watch historical documentaries. Despite the apparent political, social, economic and personal significance of history, we have very little reliable information about what Australians think and believe about history. What do Australians think that history is? What do they think it is for? How have they learnt about the past and how do they decide what historical knowledge is trustworthy? What role do they believe history should play in the life of the nation? In this article, we present the findings from the Deakin Contemporary History Survey (DCHS), a large‐scale, nationally representative programme. This survey, with repeated cross‐sectional waves conducted in 2021, 2023 and 2024, aimed to explore Australians' perceptions of history, its role in national life and their beliefs about historical knowledge and its credibility. We begin by placing these surveys within the context of similar research undertaken in Australia and elsewhere, outlining the methodology and scope of our approach. The three surveys reveal some widely shared attitudes towards history among Australians as well as areas of significant disagreement. They point particularly to generational shifts in understanding the nature of history and its relationship to national identity. Based on these results, we also identify some directions that will be fruitful for further and more in‐depth investigation.