ABC - The Making of Modern Australia 3 of 4 (2009)

Information
The Making of Modern Australia

Launched in March 2009, The Making of Modern Australia is a cross-platform people's history of postwar Australia. What began as an interactive website is now also a major four-part TV documentary series on ABC TV and a book of the same name, written by series narrator William McInnes.

Under the slogan Your Story; Our History, the Making of Modern Australia website allows Australians to upload text, images and home movies. Users have already laid the foundations of a rich scrapbook of the nation's history within living memory.

The TV series and book draw on stories gathered online. As more and more Australians add their stories, the Making of Modern Australia becomes a richer and more entertaining resource. Stories are catalogued by geography, time and subject.

An education portal presented by ABC and Education Services Australia has also been incorporated into the website. This interactive resource engages students and teachers to learn online and contribute themselves to our living history.


Part 3: The Australian Heart
Episode 3 - The Australian Heart
Broadcast: Thursday 5 August, 2010


Falling in love is a dance we all know the steps to. But what happens when the first flush of romance is over?

In the 1940s and 50s, the rules of the game were strict, but clear to everyone... you got married and stayed married. Then came the swinging sixties and the sexual revolution. Today, you can live with who you want, when you want and how you want.

But is finding love any easier? Australians today are marrying less and marrying later. And it's easier than ever to jump ship - 43% of all marriages end in divorce.

Have we lost the mystery and allure of romance in our pre-packaged world?

Through intimate stories, personal photos and historical archive couples - old and new, straight and gay, singles and divorcees openly share their secrets of the tumultuous changes in Australian love life. Stories include lovers who met after the war and are still together, immigrant ship-board romance, 'single, unmarried and pregnant' in the 60s, the impact of the Pill and the Sexual Revolution, divorce and 'open' relationships in the 70s, 'coming out' in the 80s, the modern woman of the 90s and internet dating.

Humorous and revealing interviews combine with romantic images from the past to tell this amazing history of the Australian heart since World War Two.