Now released in stunning 4K, Life in Australia: Mount Gambier (1964) follows a local family through the rhythms of work and leisure in South Australia’s south-east. The camera moves easily between the main street and the rolling farmlands, the limestone quarries and the nine cheese factories, the hum of the woollen mill and the expanse of the pine forests. The Blue Lake shimmers, Brown’s Lake hosts sleek water skiers, and the weekends are filled with dances, theatre productions and leisurely shopping trips.

It’s a portrait of small-town Australia where industry is calm and orderly, neighbours know each other’s names, and nature and community are intertwined. Comfort, beauty, leisure and plenty are the offer – a ‘Lucky Country’ vision that captures the optimism of 20th-century officialdom, while smoothing over the divisions and complexities of 1960s Australia.

The Life in Australia series showcased Australian towns and cities in an idyllic light, hoping to attract prospective immigrants with carefully tailored visions of a peaceful, prosperous life. The films were made during the time of the White Australia policy, and the invitation to middle-class families is clear.

Find out more about the Life in Australia series