www.radioaustralia.net.au
Contemporary Australia: Study notes from the Australian studies course at Monash University
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/australia/contemporary/default.htm
At the start of exploring a new topic it is always helpful to begin with an overview or a kind of disambiguation. If we want to research how the Australian national identity is and has been constructed in and through the national media, we might want to start with (an overview of) what Australian national identity actually is and how it developed.
good starting point is therefore the Understanding Australia project, initiated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Monash University and a sub-section of the website of radioaustralia.net.au. The website provides general information about Australia (education, people, politics,…), but more importantly, it also contains study notes from the Australian studies course at Monash Uni, entitled Contemporary Australia.
Even if the project dates back to 2003, to get a general understanding of the Australian identity and an historic overview it is nonetheless very useful, as long as kept in mind that the information is already a few years old. Particularly interesting are the study notes on national identity by Sara Cousins, which covers national symbols, history, the Australian way of life as well as an outlook to a potentially post-nationalist Australia.
The links at the end of the study notes as well as the notes on Sport and Popular Culture are a further bonus, paving the way for further research into more detail.
