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The Secret River Study Guide

Lisa Tran
February 27, 2011

The Secret River is usually studied in the Australian curriculum under

Area of Study 1 - Text Response. For a detailed guide on Text
Response, check out our Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response.
Background

During 18th century to mid 19th century, 162,000 men and women were transported to
Australia, with majority from England. These people, known as ‘convicts’, had committed
crimes such as larceny and robbery – acts which were considered severe offenses and
demanded heavy sentences. In order to deal with the overwhelming masses of criminals, the
government exported crowds of convicts to Australia to serve their term as labourers. The
reason driving the deportation included an attempt to decrease poverty and crime in England
while concurrently developing the British colony in Australia.

Many of the fleets from England were destined for New South Wales, Australia. Those on the
fleets included the criminals, marines, and their families. Living in a penal colony, the criminals
were employed depending on their various skills: farmer, boatman, servant etc. The settlers
were award a ‘ticket of leave’ if they presented good behaviour during labour. This meant that
settlers would become emancipists, where they were set free from the government’s sentence
and could begin a life for themselves by making their own living. This suited the government’s
goal for a successful and thriving colony since it would only be possible if people were to work
for themselves, and not under the terrain of the government.

Although Australia was chiefly populated with Indigenous Australians, the first century of
colonisation saw a drastic decline in their population. This was due to a clash of desire for the
land; the native’s innate protection of their land and the white settlers struggle to declare their
right to an area already inhibited by natives – possibly for 40,000 years. The two cultures failed
to ever create a peace agreement or compensation and as a result, the frontier was often
marked with blood. Overtime, a successful of the British colony meant that white settlement
overpowered any possibility of the natives retaining their land. The Secret River’s exploration
of this powerful change in Australia’s history is a poignant reflection of the past, and demands
attention to the sensitive issue of Australian and native relationship that is still present today.

To learn more, visit Kate Grenville’s website here.