A knowledge-rich curriculum is a common feature of educationally high-performing countries and an important step towards achieving Australia's education goals. It provides the foundation for excellence and equity in the education system by prioritising and explicitly outlining the essential knowledge and related skills students should be taught and develop at each stage of their schooling. In this report, the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) provides an overview of the evidence underpinning a knowledge-rich curriculum and outlines the key design features and enablers to effectively enact a knowledge-rich curriculum in schools. This is achieved by conducting a desktop review of the most rigorous and relevant research from national and international reviews, reports and seminal research regarding the evidence on effective curriculum design and the cognitive science evidence for how students learn best. This report also addresses some of the prevailing myths and misconceptions about a knowledge-rich curriculum. [This publication was commissioned by the New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA).]