Presented by Colleen Blancato

Exciting but difficult Dangerous and uncomfortable Rough lifestyle To reach goldfields, diggers walked or rode long distances over rough tracks Make own shelters IT WASN’T EASY TO STRIKE IT RICH!!!!!!

I solation and separation £ N ative Aboriginal people £ J obs for women £ U nhealthy living conditions £ S tealing by bushrangers £ Troopers £ I llegal supply business £ C hinese immigrants £ Eureka Stockade £

Staking a claim – Governor Fitzroy of Victoria issued miners with licences which allowed them to stake a 12 foot (3.6 metres) squarew claim for 30 shillings per month and to keep the proceeds of any gold found. SUCH CLAIMS MADE NO CONCESSIONS TO THE FACT THAT ABORIGINAL PEOPLE COULD BE SAID TO HAVE PRIOR RIGHTS TO THIS GOLD BY VIRTUE OF HAVING OCCUPIED THE LAND FOR AT LEAST YEARS

male-dominated society Women ‘had their place’ – support their husband and raise a family Women often worked hard on their own claims Did not have the right to vote

weather extremes and lack of shelter Back-breaking, dangerous and monotonous work Serious illness from poor sanitation, dust in shafts or the change in temperature, and injuries from cave- ins, explosions and underground fires Scurvy was rife due to lack of fruit and vegetables Dysentery and ‘sandy blight ‘were common

Frank Gardiner Ned Kelly Ben Hall Captain Thunderbolt

Mounted police hunted diggers for their licences Diggers often charged and arrested for not carrying licence Often chained alleged offenders to a tree

Alcohol ban before 1854 Led to ‘ sly- grog’ shops Difficult to police Often led to corruption

Sterotyped as inferior and threatening Widely held prejudices led to violent anti-Chinese riots Lambing - Flat riots Restrictive laws – Chinese children taxed as adults from age of 12 -Ship-owners paid £10 for every Chinese passenger -Forced to live in separate villages