Topics covered include the geography of indigenous and invasion Australia; patterns and consequences of economic and cultural diffusion and change; socio-economic impacts of industrial change; emergence of global information economies, telecommunications networks; landscapes of production and consumption; transformations of gender roles and influences of feminism; changing patterns and impacts of migration; re-assessments of national identity, multiculturalism, and reconciliation; the global diffusion of popular culture and the reaction in Australia; impacts of globalisation on material well-being and cultural diversity; introduction to spatial analysis and GIS with particular emphasis on economic and social patterns and change.

Workshops, field trips and skills development further contribute to an understanding of contemporary urbanisation.