New survey shows Australians value history and want to learn more

At a time of extreme uncertainty for the study of history and the humanities, a UNSW Canberra survey has found that an overwhelming majority of Australians are interested in and value history.

The survey, conducted earlier this year by the War Studies Research Group, aimed to gain an understanding of how Australians view history, how they rate their historical knowledge and what value they think it can offer modern society.

The survey’s lead researcher, historian Dr Nicole Townsend, said it was valuable to have data that underscored the public’s interest in studying history.

“History and the humanities have been in the headlines for years, often used as a political football in ‘culture wars’ debates,” Dr Townsend said.

“With initiatives like Job-ready Graduates making studying the humanities more expensive, we are seeing declining enrolments at university level and history departments shrinking.

“This survey is reassuring because it demonstrated that 80% of people are interested in Australian history, but it still found that only 60% reported feeling knowledgeable about that history.

"That gap is exactly why we must continue to support history education; to enable those who are interested to access that knowledge and ensure the gap doesn’t widen.”

More than three-quarters of the respondents said they viewed history equally as important to study as mathematics, science, technology and business. Further, 60% supported making history a compulsory school subject through to Year 12.

Dr Townsend said the survey highlighted history’s importance in an increasingly fractured and volatile world.

“More than 80% of people believe history is relevant to society today and 85% agreed that an understanding of history could help to avoid repeating mistakes from the past,” she said.

“Interestingly, more than three-quarters of Australians believe that history is susceptible to being misused or misrepresented by politicians, the media and other groups.

“These figures highlight the importance for people to have skills in evaluating and interpreting history for themselves.”

While obstacles may exist to the formal study of history, especially beyond high school, the survey found that people enjoyed learning about history through other avenues, such as museums, film and television or historical novels.

“We know the interest exists, so it is essential for historians and those who work in the humanities to encourage the public to deepen their knowledge of history, and to do so through both traditional and non-traditional outlets,” Dr Townsend said.

“Whether that be through national monuments, exhibitions or in media and literature, we need to move beyond history being viewed as a high school subject and instead embraced as a lifelong endeavour.”

Other key findings include:

• Just over half of the respondents said they held a positive view of Australian history, while 31% reported being neutral and 15% holding a negative view.
• History that challenged a person’s existing knowledge was preferred by two-thirds of those surveyed. However, 63% believed historical study should celebrate Australia’s past rather than critique or question it.
• 60% of people believe it’s as important to have knowledge of world history as it is to know about Australian history.
• Australia’s colonial and indigenous histories were picked as the two subjects people said they were most interested in, with 39% and 32% respectively, though levels of interest varied considerably between age groups.

The full survey report can be found on the War Studies Research Group’s website.