Civics and citizenship / Year 8 / Civics and Citizenship Knowledge and Understanding / Laws and citizens

Curriculum content descriptions

How laws are made in Australia through parliaments (statutory law) and through the courts (common law) (ACHCK063)

Elaborations
  • comparing some examples of statutes and common laws and the way they are made and outlining the hierarchy of these different types of laws (for example, that statutes will override the common law)
  • distinguishing statutory and common law from executive law (delegated law) and identifying how the Houses of Parliament can disallow delegated legislation
  • discussing examples of recent laws passed through parliaments that enact government policy
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • Personal and social capability Personal and social capability
  • Ethical understanding Ethical understanding
ScOT terms

Legislation,  Acts of Parliament,  Bills of Parliament,  Common law,  Legal precedent

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Queensland Parliament: Classroom activities

This webpage includes resources specific to the Queensland context as well as more generic resources applicable to a broad range of Australian classrooms. Find role plays about how Bills are made, about how Parliamentary Committees function and a template for a Parliamentary Inquiry role play.

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Preparing for the Parliament Prize

Developed to support a state-based annual competition, this resource can be used more broadly to support students articulating the issues that are important to them. Students are asked to consider what they would say to their Parliament if they were an MP and record their own 90-second Member’s Statement video. Find Teacher’s ...

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Contemporary issues in Civics and Citizenship

This resource is designed to help teachers to think about their own practices and explore a number of common approaches to the discussion of contemporary issues. The resource includes six professional learning modules, with pre-readings, group activities, discussion questions and prompts, plus other resources. Module themes ...

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State, territory and Australian parliaments

This website is about the parliaments of the states and territories of Australia, as well as the Australian Parliament. It describes the different origins of the colonies and their movement to self-government during the 19th century, and subsequent federation into one nation in 1901. The resource describes the structures, ...

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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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Australian Constitution Centre Resources

Find detailed lesson plans for appropriate levels of schooling supporting topics such as the Rule of Law, Representative Democracy, Australian identity, federation and the Constitution, Australia’s legal system, the Courts and the Australian Justice System, The Constitution and the Making of Law in Australia, The High Court ...