The 'Ten Pound Poms' Scheme

Active learning works because this topic blends complex human stories with policy decisions. Students need to grapple with both the emotional weight and the structural realities of refugee resettlement. By engaging in role plays, discussions, and collaborative tasks, they connect historical decisions to personal experiences, deepening both empathy and analytical rigor.

• Year 10
• HASS
• 3 activities
• 60 min–90 min

Ready-to-Use Activities

Role Play

⏱ 90 min·Individual

Format Name: 'Ten Pound Pom' Persona Project

Students research and create a profile for a fictional 'Ten Pound Pom' migrant, including their reasons for migrating, their journey, and their initial experiences in Australia. This can be presented as a diary, a series of letters, or a short video.

Prepare & details

Analyze the motivations for British migrants to come to Australia under the 'Ten Pound Poms' scheme.

Facilitation Tip: During Collaborative Investigation, assign small groups specific refugee journeys to map, ensuring each student contributes by researching one stage of the voyage or resettlement process.

Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging

Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Role Play

⏱ 60 min·Whole Class

Format Name: Scheme Debate: Success or Failure?

Organize a class debate on whether the 'Ten Pound Poms' scheme was ultimately successful, considering demographic, social, and economic factors. Students must research and present arguments for both sides.

Prepare & details

Explain the social and cultural impact of large-scale British migration.

Facilitation Tip: For the Role Play, provide students with a one-page brief of their character’s stance and access to historical newspaper excerpts to ground their arguments in primary evidence.

Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging

Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Role Play

⏱ 75 min·Small Groups

Format Name: Primary Source Analysis Stations

Set up stations with different primary sources: government pamphlets, personal letters from migrants, newspaper articles from the era, and photographs. Students rotate through stations, analyzing the perspectives and information presented.

Prepare & details

Evaluate the long-term success of the scheme in retaining British migrants.

Facilitation Tip: In Think-Pair-Share, ask students to compare Fraser’s policies with a contemporary refugee policy, using a Venn diagram to visualize connections and contrasts.

Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging

Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Teaching This Topic

Teachers should anchor this topic in primary sources to avoid abstract policy discussions. Use student-centered strategies like role play and collaborative mapping to make the human scale of the crisis tangible. Avoid framing the topic solely as a success story—emphasize the ethical dilemmas and public debates to foster critical historical thinking. Research shows that when students engage with diverse perspectives, they develop deeper empathy and more sophisticated analytical skills.

What to Expect

Successful learning looks like students tracing refugee journeys with nuance, debating policy choices with evidence, and articulating how Fraser’s policies reshaped Australia’s identity. They should move beyond simplistic narratives to understand both the generosity and the tensions of the time.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Collaborative Investigation: The Journey of the 'Boat People', some students may assume most refugees arrived by boat.

What to Teach Instead

Have students refer to the 'mode of arrival' chart they construct during the activity, pointing out that the chart should show plane arrivals as the majority, based on the official resettlement program.

Common Misconception

During Role Play: The Resettlement Debate, students might believe the public fully supported accepting refugees.

What to Teach Instead

Encourage students to examine the primary sources provided for the debate, particularly the 'Letters to the Editor,' to identify and cite examples of public anxiety or opposition.

Assessment Ideas

Discussion Prompt

After Role Play: The Resettlement Debate, facilitate a whole-class discussion where students evaluate the strongest arguments made during the debate, identifying which used primary sources effectively and which relied on assumptions.

Quick Check

During Collaborative Investigation: The Journey of the 'Boat People', circulate and check that each group has identified at least one push factor from Vietnam and one pull factor to Australia, using their refugee journey maps as evidence.

Exit Ticket

After Think-Pair-Share: The Fraser Government's Legacy, collect exit tickets that list one social impact and one demographic impact of the resettlement program, using specific evidence from the activity’s Venn diagram discussion.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge early finishers to write a diary entry from the perspective of a Vietnamese refugee child arriving in Darwin, including sensory details about the journey and arrival.
• Scaffolding: Provide a sentence starter frame for students struggling with the Role Play, such as 'I believe Australia should accept refugees because...' with key evidence prompts.
• Deeper exploration: Invite students to research and compare Australia’s refugee intake today with the 1970s program, analyzing changes in policy and public sentiment.