In 1999, there was a national inquiry into school history in Australia as it was viewed by the government that there was a strong link between the teaching and learning of history and civics and citizenship education. The author discusses a background to the inquiry, which began after many history teachers and academic historians felt the field had been under attack for the previous twenty years. Most of the blame was placed on the study of society and the environment (SOSE) initiated in 1989, which many felt was a replacement for the antiquated, elitist history course in the 1980s. The author continues with a discussion of the methodology of the inquiry, which included both qualitative and quantitative methods. The results of the research into the inquiry produced the following main areas of findings: professional debate; history and primary curriculum; history and the study of SOSE in the secondary school; history relationship with civics and citizenship education; professional development and curriculum support, history and prescribed curriculum; Australian and Indigenous history and pre-service issues and professional collaboration, political, administrative, teaching relationships. There were six recommendations in the 200 page report that was submitted to the Department of Education: a national seminar, national centre for history education and a national association for history and civics and citizenship education, a primary and secondary history project, creation of locally based professional development and direct support to subject associations from the Commonwealth, a nationally offered postgraduate program in history education, and an Australian handbook on the teaching and learning of history. At the time the article was written, the government was to begin implementation of the changes within a month.