a3 are proud to have partnered with GenerationOne to deliver the Hands Across Australia School Competition. Entries are now open! For more information, visit the Hands Across Australia School Competition site.
Schools across Australia have been challenged to film their own version, including an original rap, of the GenerationOne theme song Hands Across Australia as part of the nationwide campaign to end Indigenous disparity in one generation – this generation.
GenerationOneis the movement for every Australian wanting to end Indigenous disadvantage. We want as many of Australia’s 10,000 schools as possible to engage their students in this movement by learning, practicing and performing Hands Across Australia.
Entries are now open, and all entries must be submitted by 10 September to be in the running to win the Hands Across Australia $25,000 Education Award.
Where it all began
In March 2010 Andrew and Nicola Forrest launched GenerationOne, to end Indigenous disparity in one generation - this generation. As a part of the campaign Les Gock and Melinda Schneider were invited to write Hands Across Australia, the song to raise awareness and get Australians engaged with the issue of Indigenous disparity and end disadvantage. The Australian Girls Choir, along with a group of Australian artists, recorded Hands Across Australia as GenerationOne’s theme song.
In May 2010, a Girls From Oz program was being run in Halls Creek in WA, providing performing arts education to students at Halls Creek District High School. These girls were taught Hands Across Australia, which they learnt in only 20 minutes, and were the first to sing the song after the original artists.
Andrew and Nicola Forrest support a number of programs in Halls Creek and their May visit coincided with the Girls from Oz program so they had the opportunity to hear these students learning Hands Across Australia. This experience provided the inspiration that all school children throughout Australia could learn this song in a bid to engage with the aims of GenerationOne – what better place to grow this movement than in our schools?
GenerationOne and the Australian School of Performing Arts are partnering to present the Hands Across Australia School Competition. We hope that all schools throughout Australia will participate in this competition, and use Hands Across Australia as a way to start a discussion in their classroom and community about how we can end Indigenous disparity in one generation – this generation.
Halls Creek - Hands across Australia School Competition
