Civics and Citizenship 7-10 / Year 7 / Knowledge and understanding / Citizenship, diversity and identity

Curriculum content descriptions

how Australia’s secular democracy and pluralist, multi-faith society draws upon diverse cultural origins, including Christian and Western heritage, distinct First Nations Australian histories and cultures, and migrant communities (AC9HC7K04)

Elaborations
  • defining the terms “secular”, “multi-faith”, “diverse society”, “culturally diverse”, “Christian heritage”, “Western heritage” and “pluralist”, and discussing their relevance to Australia today
  • exploring the diversity of First Nations Australian communities and discussing the distinctiveness of a community linked to their Country/Place
  • identifying trends regarding religious observance and/or cultural heritage in Australian society, using the Australian Bureau of Statistics and other data sources
  • exploring the diversity of spiritualities among First Nations Australian communities, from traditional spirituality to the adoption of other religions such as Christianity and Islam
  • appreciating the cultural and historical foundations of Australias Christian heritage and their impact on Australia’s political and legal systems
General capabilities
  • Intercultural understanding Intercultural Understanding
Cross-curriculum priorities
ScOT terms

Religious faiths,  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,  Secular belief systems,  Democracy,  Multiculturalism

Video

Roman Lead Shrine

In this UK-based resource, students will learn about common features of personal worship. These resources can be used as stand-alone lessons in the context of units on Christianity or Buddhism, but probably can best be deployed together in an inquiry- style approach.

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Key concepts in Civics and Citizenship Levels 3–10

These six videos for teachers unpack key concepts in Civics and Citizenship highlighting perspectives of current primary and secondary teachers and students. Find videos relating to both content and effective pedagogies. Each video is accompanied by questions that can be used to prompt discussions to support teachers’ thinking ...

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Mahtab’s Story: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the novel Mahtab’s Story. The novel focuses on asylum seekers and explores themes of courage, family, hope and resilience. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, an assessment task and an essay about the novel by Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Interactive

Refugees welcome here

This resource embeds the use of online collaboration tools and 21st century learning skills in a student-centered hands-on project designed to welcome refugees into their community. The syllabus outcomes are aligned to NSW Stage 4 English, Geography or Visual Arts but this could be used with older or younger students by ...

Interactive

Quizzes

Test your students with these quizzes about the Australian Parliament. Topics include the three levels of government, separation of powers and the Australian Constitution.

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Australian Constitution in focus

The Australian Constitution is the legal framework for how Australia is governed. This article explores in detail the history of the Constitution, its key features and the High Court’s role in interpreting it. The page describes processes for amending the Constitution including through referendum as well as two case studies ...

Online

Make a law: Senate

Discover how bills—proposed laws—are introduced, debated and voted on in the Senate by turning your class into a Parliament and doing it yourself! This lesson plan outlines the steps to run a role play in the classroom and includes a video illustrating the process, teacher notes, class preparation and plans for making the ...

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Australian Constitution online

Browse the complete text of the Australian Constitution with this easy-to use website. It includes a detailed overview by the Australian Government Solicitor and a 2:26 min video snapshot about the Constitution and its role in the governance of the Australian nation.

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Separation of powers

The principle of the separation of powers distributes the power to govern between the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary. This fact sheet examines the role of each group and the related principle of responsible government.

Online

Australian Constitution

This fact sheet summarises the key features of the Australian Constitution— the set of rules by which Australia is run—and how it can be changed.

Video

Get involved

Explore the ways ordinary Australians can get involved in the work of Parliament with this short video (6:25 min). Find out how you can get informed about the work of the Parliament, the role of petitioning and ways to participate in parliamentary inquiries.

Interactive

Political parties

Many political parties have members elected to the Australian Parliament. In this fact sheet, learn more about how they are organised, coalitions of parties, party meetings and the history of political parties in Australia.

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Government

This fact sheet explores the role and functions of the Australian Government, including who is in the government, how it is formed, minority government and the principle of responsible government.

Interactive

Australian Parliament history timeline

This interactive timeline explores key milestones in the history of Australia's Parliament that led to federation and how the work of Parliament has influenced Australian democratic development since 1901. The timeline allows users to explore the milestones chronologically or follow thematic trails.

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Civics and citizenship: posters and infographics

This webpage hosts a range of visual resources including posters about the Magna Carta, the separation of powers, various forms of government, check and balances and others.

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Aboriginal Cultures, Ch 14: Identity, racism and connection

How do you identify yourself? For some of us our identity is linked to the way we look, but for many people, especially in a multicultural country like Australia, it is generally more complicated. Does the way you look inform how you identify yourself? Grace is a Yorta Yorta person, and her identity is linked to her connection ...

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Birds and totems

Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian man Bruce Pascoe shares his delight in encountering birds on Country. Bruce explains the significance of Umburra, or black duck, and his obligation to care for the species. Bruce explains that his brothers and sisters look after other animals, such as kangaroos, bream, wallabies, flathead and ...

Interactive

The Orb

The Orb is a collection of multimedia learning resources about Tasmanian Aboriginal histories and cultures. It explores the interconnections between people, Country, culture, identity, and the living community. The multimedia resources have between three and five sections in which Tasmanian Aboriginal people share their ...

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The Australian Dream: Racism

This clip highlights Adam Goodes’s belief that the whole community needs to work together to put an end to racism. Through the heartbreaking story of Nicky Winmar and Gilbert McAdam, you'll get an insight into how far we've come in tackling racism, but Adam shows us how far we still have to go. Find out how people used ...

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NSW Governor Marie Bashir – 2010 speech to students

This resource is a YouTube playlist containing a series of videos from a speech the NSW Governor Marie Bashir gave to senior high school students at Government House in 2010. She speaks on a range of topics, including the Australian system of government, the history of Australia and NSW, and her life. She also answers ...