Many Australians believe history should be a source of pride, and that young people should have an affirming national story with appropriate values to aspire to. Yet we also require space for these national narratives to be critically discussed in class. While there is no doubt Australian history should be an essential component of young Australians’ school education, we need to ensure their historical understanding is expanded rather than limited it to any simplistic or uncontested national narrative. And that means a fundamental reconsideration of history teaching away from the nation-building rhetoric of the ‘Australian Achievement’ to a more complex engagement with Australian history and identity. For it is with those skills of inquiry and analysis that any real nation-building potential of Australian history will be realised — and, perhaps surprisingly, many students say just that. So shouldn’t we be offering a national history that students feel they are helping to define?