Australia is home to the world’s oldest continuous cultures, with First Nations Peoples holding stories, knowledge, and connections to Country that stretch back more than 65,000 years. Now, educators and students can explore these stories in a new way through Deep Time, a digital resource created by the ABC Education team.
What is Deep Time?
Deep Time is an immersive platform that brings Australia’s oldest stories to life through:
- Interactive Maps – Explore Country and Place across the continent.
- Timelines – Trace the deep history of First Nations cultures and connections.
- Narratives & Voices – Hear directly from First Nations Peoples, sharing stories of creation, identity, and belonging.
- Videos & Storytelling – Engage students with multimedia experiences that spark curiosity and inquiry.
Using Deep Time in Early Childhood Education
1. Storytelling and Identity
- Share short narratives from Deep Time during group time to spark curiosity.
- Use the voices of First Nations Peoples featured in the resource to introduce children to diverse perspectives.
- Encourage children to reflect on their own family stories and connections to place, linking personal identity with cultural identity.
2. Exploring Country and Place
- Use the interactive maps to show children different parts of Australia and talk about how each place has its own stories.
- Connect this to local excursions—walks around the centre or community—to discuss “Who cared for this land before us?”
- Invite children to draw or paint their own “map of Country” to represent their relationship with the land.
About Deep Time Australia
Deep Time Australia is an ABC News Story Lab project that provides a glimpse into the ancient history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have occupied this land for more than 65,000 years.
At the heart of this project are the voices of First Nations knowledge holders who share stories from Country. The project brings together their traditional science and knowledge with modern scientific knowledge.
This site is more than just a story, it’s a valuable digital resource designed to help us grasp the scale of the First Australians’ history — capturing how people were living, how they survived dramatic climate and landscape changes, and how they have practised a rich and diverse culture for tens of thousands of years.
Thanks to thousands of years of oral histories that have been passed down we can all gain a better understanding of the world’s oldest living and continuing cultures.
Every cultural story you read in this project has been included with the permissions of the knowledge holder or community credited.
Story Lab has built this interactive website with the hope that Deep Time can serve as an ongoing resource and be treasured by the First Nations people we’ve collaborated with to bring this story to life.
It is important to note that this is not a complete or comprehensive history. It never could be, and we make no such claim. This project is but a snapshot of the enormous landscape of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories and cultures, which cover a huge geographical diversity and occur over a sweeping chronological period spanning millennia—and continuing today.
For more information: Deep Time
Further Reading
Importance Of Embedding ATSI Perspectives And Pedagogies
Connecting With Local ATSI Communities For Support
Walking Together - A Resource For Inclusive Practice
Strategies To Include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
From Play School To Preschool - Learning From ATSI Educators