Civics and Citizenship

Year 7

The process for constitutional change through a referendum (ACHASSK194)

  • Examine the Uluru Statement from the Heart, the Recognise campaign, and calls for Treaties with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Consider the place Australia’s first languages play in these discussion and how they should be acknowledged.

Year 8

The freedoms that enable active participation in Australia’s democracy within the bounds of law, including freedom of speech, association, assembly, religion and movement (ACHCK061)

  • Research policies and practices that have restricted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s participation in Australia’s democracy throughout our shared history. Reflect on how language difference can restrict participation, particularly without the awareness and acknowledgment of the languages differences that exist.

  • Consider Aboriginal Protection and Restriction Act in Queensland, the Cape Barren Island Reservation Acts of 1912 & 1945 in Tasmanian, or a similar Act in your State/Territory that restricted all aspects of peoples lives including not legally being able to speak their own languages. Consider the long-term impact these policies have had.

The types of law in Australia, including criminal law and civil law, and the place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customary law (ACHCK064)

  • Consider customary law of a number of different language groups from across Australia e.g. the Ngarra law of the Yolngu people (who speak the Yolngu Matha languages) in Arhnem Land, NT.

  • Consider the challenges presented to Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples within Australian laws e.g. language difference including creoles and other dialects of English that are not acknowledged and cause mis-communication at many levels. (e.g. Diana Eades research language in courts).

Different perspectives about Australia’s national identity, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, and what it means to be Australian (ACHCK066)

  • Consider the perspectives of a number of Aboriginal people from different languages groups and how important language and land are to identity.

  • Reflect on how this informs a national identity for all Australians to celebrate.

Year 9

The influence of a range of media, including social media, in shaping identities and attitudes to diversity (ACHCK080)

  • Explore Indigenous media sources e.g. Koori Mail, Indigenous Times, NITV and consider the differences to mainstream media. Notice the difference in language used both varieties of English as well as traditional languages and consider how this can shape identities and attitudes to diversity.

  • Watch some Indigenous TV (for example, Black Comedy, 8MMM Aboriginal Radio, or Dinghy Gurls) listen to how different types of English/Aboriginal English are used between Aboriginal people. Listen for terms like 'deadly'; 'mob' etc. and for how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people change their 'English' depending on who they are talking to.

Year 10

How Australia’s international legal obligations shape Australian law and government policies, including in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACHCK093)

  • Research language rights or the rights of linguistic minorities as part of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

  • Identify whether these international conventions and declarations have shaped Australian government policies with regard to the languages of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.