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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 ...

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Tour of NSW Government House

This resource is a YouTube playlist containing a series of videos taken as a group of senior high school students are given a guided tour of NSW Government House in 2010. The tour covers primary sources such as architecture, furniture and images significant to the history of Australia and NSW.

Interactive

Making a difference

This resource consists of four case studies which explore stories that illustrate issues of civics and citizenship at local, state, federal government and international levels. Students learn about active citizenship and plan their own, while covering content such as the Freedom Rides, Franklin Dam, Mabo, Wik and human rights.

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 ...

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Magna Carta - Is it a part of your life today?

This unit of work consists of five classroom activities that introduce students to the Magna Carta, or Great Charter that describes the civil liberties granted by King John of England in 1215. The activities explore the key concepts established in the Magna Carta, including the rule of law and the parliamentary system of ...

Online

Sensory Experience

This is a website about how the treatment and mainstream understanding of deaf and blind people has changed overtime. The resource has three sections: Introductory information; Story Objects; and Story Education Resources. There are 16 Story Objects that tell the stories of individuals, events and artefacts of deaf and ...

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Radio National: Enid Lyons's maiden speech to Parliament, 1943

Find out about Dame Enid Lyons, the first woman to be elected to the Australian Parliament. Author Michael Fullilove discusses her background and political objectives. The program includes Dame Edith's maiden (first) speech to Parliament in 1943 as a member of the House of Representatives.

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BTN: Passing a bill in parliament

How is a law made by an Australian parliament? This analogy of a battle plan and General Bill demonstrates the process of a political bill passing through the two houses of parliament on its journey to being made law.

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BTN: What is a referendum?

Watch this video to find out how Australia became a Federation. What happened in 1897?  What things stayed the same, and what things changed when Australia became a Federation? What is a referendum? There have been many others held in Australia since this early one. Do some research and find out what other issues Australians ...

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Why Australia wanted a White Australia policy

The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 was designed to limit non-British immigration to Australia. It came to be known as the White Australia policy. In some quarters, people of non-British (and especially non-European) heritage were regarded as being inferior, greedy or unable to fit in with dominant Australian society. ...

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Counted: Faith Bandler on voting yes in the 1967 referendum

In 1967, after 10 years of campaigning, Australia voted yes in the referendum on changing the way Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were referred to in the Constitution. Faith Bandler played an important role in campaigning for the yes vote. Do some research and find out more about this remarkable activist.

Interactive

Federal 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. Selected milestones ...

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Australian political parties

This resource is a website about political parties and their role and functions within Australian parliamentary democracy. It focuses on the origins and values of the major political parties in Australia and the ways in which they work. It has links to the websites of each of the main parties, a glossary of relevant terms ...

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Counted: A new referendum

Today people are campaigning to hold a referendum that seeks to fully recognise Indigenous people in the Constitution. Why does Marcia Langton believe this is a crucial thing to do? What do you think? What makes Stan Grant Snr angry about the prospect of holding another referendum?

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BTN: Young drovers: reviving a proud tradition

Did you know that Aboriginal pastoral workers were the backbone of the wealthy Australian cattle industry, but that until 1968 they were never paid an equal wage? Find out what it took for these stockworkers with valuable work skills to achieve equal pay. Watch, too, how some Aboriginal students in the Roper Gulf country ...

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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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Pocket Compass, Ep 4: History of Indigenous rights in Australia

You may have heard of the 1967 referendum that granted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders some rights in Australia, but how did Indigenous rights evolve from there? Many, like the Black Power activists, believed the referendum didn't go far enough, especially in relation to land rights, and their causes gained prominence ...

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1967 and a new activism

How did the yes vote in 1967 change the way laws were made for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people? The struggle for land rights became the focus of the next wave of Aboriginal activists, who gained domestic and world attention by erecting a tent embassy on the lawns of  Parliament House in Canberra. Why was the ...

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The House In Session, Ep 3: The Westminster system and borrowed traditions

Annabel Crabb explains the interesting traditions that the Parliament of Australia has borrowed from the parliament of Westminster in the United Kingdom. Who is Black Rod, and what is a serjeant-at-arms? What is the Mace, and why is a hood placed over it when entering the presence of the Governor-General? And why would ...

Online

The Umbrella Movement: Protests in Hong Kong

This lesson sequence examines the relationship between China and Hong Kong and explores the methods and symbolism behind the democracy protests that occurred when Beijing blocked nominations for the election of Hong Kong's chief executive in 2017.