Shark attacks on populated beaches are statistically not that common in Australia, but they attract sensational media coverage of the type seen in this newsreel.

On the sparkling beaches of Australia, where people relax and enjoy the summer, life guards patrol the beaches and remain alert to the dangers of sharks lurking in the shallow beach water.

Shark attacks on populated beaches are statistically not that common in Australia, but they attract sensational media coverage of the type seen in this newsreel.

This clip shows Beryl Morrin who had both her arms amputated after a shark attack in the Georges River on New Years Day, 1935. She was only 13 at the time. Four years after the attack, Beryl is shown riding a bike, diving and swimming. Despite the odds, Beryl is shown to still love the water, and remains an active swimmer.

Fangs of Death enters the dangerous world of venomous snakes. It shows a professional snake handler with brown and tiger snakes; how to milk snakes for serum; and how to treat a snake bite wound with antivenin and a razor. It also shows a small child happily handling a carpet snake. It warns the audience of the dangers of deadly snakes in high summer throughout New South Wales, and what to do if bitten.

This clip shows a foreman and his worker ending work early for the day. They rush down to the pub ‘as fast as a radio announcer after English humour magazines on mail day’ to get in before the doors shut at 6pm. Once inside, clientele are allowed 20 minute’s grace to finish their drinks before stumbling out onto the street and home, presumably to their wives.

The newsreel closes by asking the audience what their view is on extended drinking hours.

Depicting the family life of a young boy in the poorer suburbs of Sydney, this newsreel touches on society’s responsibility to offer its youth a better future.

This clip shows the conditions of those living in low income areas of inner city Sydney. The children living in this environment, according to the narration, ‘start life’s race with a handicap’ placing a responsibility on the community whose duty it is to lift it. It focuses on the living conditions of a boy and his family, and the life of crime he gets into on the street. It hints at a cycle of behaviour learned by son from father.

This 1930s newsreel recounts the coronial inquest into the Pyjama Girl mystery, one of the most baffling unsolved murder cases in Australian criminal history.

It reconstructs courtroom scenes and the witness account of Detective MacCrae, who calls for the body to be preserved in the ‘interests of justice’.

The clip also shows footage of pieces of fabric from the pyjamas the woman was wearing when she was found.

Her preserved body is taken to the Faculty of Medicine at Sydney University and, despite displaying her corpse to thousands of curious people, her identity remains unknown. Summary by Poppy De Souza.

According to this newsreel, Australia is at war with the '5th Column’, threatened by a ruthless enemy whose objective is the 'downfall of the British Empire’.

This clip suggests that Nazi agents already reside in Australia and that government officials work day and night to stamp out the ‘enemy within’. The audience is called upon as ‘loyal citizens’ to do their part to assist by being careful about what they say and whom they say it around.

According to this newsreel, Australia is at war with the '5th Column’, threatened by a ruthless enemy whose objective is the 'downfall of the British Empire’.

This clip opens with type scrolling over a background screen declaring that Australia is at war and threatened by a ruthless enemy. The enemies, according to the newsreel, are ‘agents of Germany’ or ‘Hitler’s 5th columnists’ who attempt to undermine Australia’s freedom and sovereignty.

This clip begins with the re-creation of DJA radio in Berlin which broadcast Nazi propaganda. It also shows the shadow of a swastika being cast across a map of Australia and shows the bombed and burning towns of war-torn Europe.

Rupert Kathner (Ben Mendelsohn) announces his filmmaking vision: a projector atop the tallest city building screening his movies on white clouds in the sky, the entire world his audience. Summary by Pat Fiske.

Rupert Kathner (Ben Mendelsohn) is having trouble selling his film to production houses. As unimpressed studio executives watch his film in the cinema, Alma Brooks (Victoria Hill), a secretary, enters with cups of tea and eagerly watches the footage. Brooks meets Kathner for the first time and she soon helps him retrieve his film out of the lab by dubious means. Summary by Pat Fiske.