The dole inspector

• What did the Great Depression really mean in Australia? Refer to the 'Decade timeline' for descriptions of the 1930s. Read about the effects of the Great Depression on families and individuals.
• The dole inspector is portrayed as a much feared character, and the community work together to defy the inspector so they can sell market produce grown in their backyard to make money to survive.

• Students view the clip, 'The dole inspector' and create a class poster, or mind map, of characteristics and facts that visually represent a community experiencing unemployment and economic hardship. Use examples of clothing, food, housing and communities.
• Students research the beginnings of the economic crisis that became the Great Depression in 1930s Australia. Information gathered should include the following key research items:

1. jobs
2. unemployment
3. housing
4. the dole
5. recollections of experiences.

• As an added experience, research groups can view excerpts from the documentary series, 'The Bridge' (55 mins), which is the first episode of the three-part series entitled Constructing Australia. The film is available at Screen Australia, http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/learning/constructingaustralia
• Other helpful websites include:

1. Seniors.com.au, http://www.seniors.gov.au
2. Australian History.org, 'Australian History: The Great Depression', http://www.australianhistory.org/great-depression.php
3. Screen Australia Digital Learning, http://dl.screenaustralia.gov.au

• Students, working in small groups, can present the information they find as a front page story for a newspaper on the topic 'Tips for surviving the Great Depression'. The information can be set out with major headlines, diagrams, old footage pictures gathered from various websites and articles relating to the Great Depression in Australia.

Student Activity Sheet H8.1: The Great Depression

• Research and examine some inspirational stories of the Great Depression. Discuss why optimism is so important in times of hardship, and encourage students to make the connections to their own community.

• Students watch the following clips from the Screen Australia Digital Learning website and take notes about what they see and hear, so they are ready for discussion on the inspirational stories.

1. The Prime Minister's National Treasures, 'James Scullin and the GCMG', http://dl.screenaustralia.gov.au/module/1095
2. Constructing Australia, 'The Bridge', 'The Bridge Workers', http://dl.screenaustralia.gov.au/module/873
3. Australia Today – Men of Tomorrow, http://aso.gov.au/titles/newsreels/australia-today-men-tomorrow/clip1/

• Students share their thoughts on the clips and draw comparisons on their own community experiences. Tough economic times also affect the lives of students today. Use Student Activity Sheet H8.2 to encourage students to brainstorm their thoughts on how people cope with tough times, both past and present.

Student Activity Sheet H8.2: Coping with hard times

• Many people were homeless and relied on relief schemes and food tickets to keep themselves alive. Farmers struggled, unable to pay back loans. Soup kitchens and 'tent cities' sprung up in many cities and towns.
• A form of unemployment benefits was introduced known as the 'susso', which was an abbreviation for sustenance, but its recipients felt a sense of undeserved shame. Long dole queues were found across the land. Many families who lost their homes moved to tent city towns, such as Happy Valley in the council of Waverley in New South Wales. The Unemployment Relief Works Program built valuable roads, pools and buildings giving hundreds of people employment and a sense of self-worth.
• Ask students to discuss the question: Should government unemployment benefits still exist?

• Students conduct a debate: 'For or against the dole.'
• The students are divided into groups of five and given a 'for' or 'against' tag. Ask them to work in their teams to research information on the current unemployment benefits scheme and investigate points for or against it. There may be two teams for it and two teams against it. Each team should be given the opportunity to debate in a formal or informal debate setting.

Student Activity Sheet H8.3: Unemployment relief

• Following a screening of the clip, ask the class to list the main events that occur in this story, identifying the key characters and the story focus.
• Use the following questions as prompts for further class or group discussion:

1. What are the main difficulties for Colum's family and for his friends?
2. What is the meaning of the term 'dole'?
3. Why do you think Colum's family are on the dole?
4. Why are these families raising chickens and growing vegetables in their backyards? What benefits would this have for them?
5. What would happen to people on the dole if they were caught raising 'chooks'? Why?
6. Do you think it is fair to stop a family's dole payments for doing this?

• Ask students to find out what resources are available for unemployed people and families today, for example, Centrelink and unemployment benefits. Compare this with the situation of Colum's family in 1938. Ask students to write a report outlining which system they think is fairer and the reasons why.
• Discuss ways in which students might be able to help save money or contribute to the household if things were tough for their family. Brainstorm a class list of ideas. Have students write a letter to their family outlining what contributions they could make to help the family in a time of economic need.

Student Activity Sheet E8.1: Tough times

• Ask students to think about Colum and his family and then write a description of the family using three rich adjectives to create a word picture. Share and compare these descriptions and have students give reasons why they have described the family in this way. Encourage them to use evidence from the clip to support their opinion. Discuss the ways the filmmaker communicates important information about the family and their friends to the audience. Look closely at costumes, actions and the setting.
• Discuss how Colum's family works together in this time of hardship, identifying specific examples in the clip. Introduce the old saying that 'blood is thicker than water' and discuss what this might mean, and what it means in this context.

• Students work in small groups to build up a richer picture of the family and their situation from all the information collected. Students can write a short story about what happened to Colum and his family before this situation, and how hardship has brought them together.

Student Activity Sheet E8.2: Sticking together

• As a class, discuss the role of the dole inspector. Ask students to focus on this character very carefully, taking notes and collecting as much information about him as possible from what is shown and heard in the clip. Looks at how he dresses, how he acts and how he speaks. Have students compare notes and then individually write a detailed description of the dole inspector from the information they have collected.
• As a class, briefly discuss these responses and have students give reasons why they think the dole inspector is doing this job. Part of the discussion may focus on the fact that his job may be all that stands between the dole inspector and being unemployed and on the dole, like Colum's family.

• Ask students to create a webpage for the dole inspector. Ask them to imagine that he is alive today and needs a Facebook page to connect with other dole inspectors across the country. Alternatively, design an advertisement asking people to apply of the job of a dole inspector.

Student Activity Sheet E8.3: What a job!

• The Australian language is notorious for using rhyming slang to evoke a more colourful and humorous connection to the meaning of a word or phrase. As an example, Colum's family call the dole inspector, Mr Geraghty, 'Mr Blake', which is a play on words for 'Joe Blake' or 'snake'. Discuss why Colum's family would imply he was a 'snake'.
• Discuss the tradition of rhyming slang, one that is still embedded in Australian culture, and ask students to find out more about it. Where did rhyming slang originate? Ask students to find other phrases such as 'China plate' (mate), 'meat pies' (eyes).

• Ask students to find at least five different examples of rhyming slang that they can contribute to a class list. Identify key features of rhyming slang to create a guide for making up new rhyming slang. Ask students to use this as a model to write their own rhyming slang for a selection of terms commonly used today. Ask students to develop two new rhyming slang expressions and illustrate them with words and pictures.

Student Activity Sheet E8.4: Talking in code