Literary history and criticism is an aspect of particular interest to students at all levels of higher education. A select list follows.

The Good Reading Guide: 100 Critics Review Contemporary Australian Fiction
Brief commentaries that whet the appetite, or otherwise.

A History of Australian Literature Pure and Applied : a Critical Review of all Forms of Literature Produced in Australia from the First Books Published After the Arrival of the First Fleet Until 1950 / H.M. Green
Systematic critical account divided into four chronological periods.

The Indigenous Literature of Australia = Milli Milli Wangka / Mudrooroo
Covers both oral tradition and written work, as well as lyrics.

Writing from the Fringe: a Study of Modern Aboriginal Literature / Mudrooroo Narogin
Analyses the writers' work, and discusses the pressures faced by Aboriginal writers.

The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature
Alphabetical entries on authors and literary works, including historians and journalists.

The Oxford Literary History of Australia
Contains chapters by leading cultural historians and literary critics, followed by a chronology of significant events.

A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Australian Poetry / Geoff Page
Presents short chapters on 100 of the most influential and widely-read poets.

Penguin New Literary History of Australia
Consists of many short thematic chapters.

A History of Australian Drama / Leslie Rees.  Volume 1 and Volume 2
Dubbed the "bible" of its subject, this study surveys drama  to 1985.