Work in small groups for these activities.

Activity 1: When did it become a government responsibility?

Some things that we think are very modern have a longer history than we sometimes think. Other ideas might be newer than we think.

In the second column of the activity sheet, When did it begin...? predict the year when you think each idea might have become a law in Victoria.

Click on the name of each law below to see the title page of each Act of Parliament that introduced these ideas and record the dates in the third column of the activity sheet.

• City Link
• Equal Opportunity
• A separate Children's Court
• Daylight Saving
• Government schools
• Letting people attend entertainment on Sundays
• A public holiday for Anzac Day
• To stop polluting the Yarra
• Allowing people to adopt children
• Managing our national parks
• To stop people littering
• Providing public housing
• To stop air pollution
• Freedom of Information
• Helping people with disabilities
• Setting up a public library, museum and art gallery

Activity 2: Landmarks of Victoria timeline

This is the first time that you have been introduced to some of the important dates in Victoria's history.

Set up a class 'Landmarks of Victoria' timeline to record important dates from Activity 1. Add further dates as you undertake further activities. Consider dividing the area below your timeline of dates into different categories as the different activities will suggest, such as 'Land', 'Elections', 'Premiers', 'Environment' and 'Youth'.

Activity 3: Who looks after it now?

When Victoria was granted responsible government in 1855 it was a British colony. As a colony, it was responsible for all aspects of life in the colony.

In 1901 Australia became a federation and some responsibilities of the colonies (states after 1901) were considered to be national responsibilities, while other responsibilities were considered to be state responsibilities.

Use the activity sheet, Who is responsible for ...? to help you complete this task.

Look at the following Acts of Parliament to decide when the colony of Victoria first became responsible for some areas of community life. Write the date when each Act of Parliament was approved in the second column. Note: some of these acts such as the Health Act were the first act about that issue AFTER responsible government. That means the Government of Victoria was already responsible for this area of activity before November 1855. These areas of responsibility continued after November 1855 and the act you are now looking at could be from an area of earlier responsibility. It was a continuing, not a new idea.

The purposes of these acts were:

• Setting up the Metropolitan Fire Brigade
• Controlling the number of Chinese coming to live in Victoria
• 'Looking after' indigenous peoples
• Building railways
• Operating a post office
• Collecting Income Tax
• Providing good public health
• Setting up an organisation to look after Melbourne's water supply and city planning
• Organising the defence of Victoria.

In the third column identify:

• those areas which are now a Commonwealth responsibility (C)
• those which are the responsibility of the state of Victoria (V)
• those which are shared by the Commonwealth and states (S).

To help you do this look at the Government section in the White Pages on pages 35 and 37.

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• Introductory activities
• Investigating the past
• Visiting the exhibition
• Going further

• Activity sheet: When did it begin?
• Activity sheet: Who is responsible for ...?