Civics and Citizenship Links

Australian Government Sites

Parliament of Australia

Level: Upper Primary to Upper Secondary

The Parliament of Australia website contains information about the workings of the Parliament with records of proceedings, live broadcasts, links to members, current inquiries and historical information. Read more.

Parliamentary Education Office

Level: Middle Primary to Upper Secondary

The Parliamentary Education Office assists students and teachers to understand the significance of the Australian Parliament, to understand how the Australian Parliament works, and to take an active role as citizens in our democracy. The website provides information about its programs and resources. Read more.

Documenting Democracy

Level: Upper Primary to Upper Secondary

This website has an ambitious aim – to trace the development of Australian democracy through the key documents directing the constitutional paths taken so far. You can explore the documentary records of Australia’s eight governments, trace a theme, follow a timeline or examine the photo gallery. Read more.

Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet

Level: Upper Secondary

The principal matters that the Department deals with are coordination of government administration, assistance to Cabinet and its committees, policy advice and administrative support to the Prime Minister, intergovernmental relations and communications with State and Territory governments, and government ceremonial and hospitality. This site contains links to a range of current discussions and related websites. Read more.

Discussion Papers

Democratic Audit of Australia

The Democratic Audit of Australia website contains a number of discussion papers that are good for background reading on civics topics for senior students. They cover a range of topics including equality in Australia’s democracy, public perceptions of democracy, the Australian electoral processes, human rights and transparency in government. Read more.

Electoral System

Australian Electoral Commission

Level: Teachers; Lower Secondary to Upper Secondary

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) conducts federal elections and referendums and maintains the Commonwealth Electoral Roll. The website includes information on electorates, election results, elected members and resources for schools. Read more.

Australian Politics

Level: Middle to Upper Secondary

This comprehensive site offers a wealth of information for teachers and students. There are sections on democracy, constitution, parliament, executive, elections, parties, pressure groups and foreign policy. There are also links to items of specific use to students, for example VCE topics, essay topics, short answer questions and worksheets. Read more.

Legal

The High Court of Australia

Level: Middle to Upper Secondary

The High Court of Australia is the highest court in the Australian judicial system. Its website contains detailed explanations of the role of the court, its history and the development of its work, a list of the Justices with brief biographies, and records and transcripts of their speeches. It also has a 'virtual tour' facility that provides a tour of the courtrooms and a view of the surrounds. Read more.

The Australian Flag

The Australian National Flag Association

Level: Middle to Upper Primary

This site operated by the Australian National Flag Association aims to teach people about the significance of our national symbol. There are suggested activities for National Flag Day on 3 September. Read more.

Ausflag

Level: Upper Primary to Middle Secondary

This site has information on the history of the Australian National and State Flags and discussions and debates about changing the Australian Flag. Read more.

Australia Day and Citizenship

Australian Citizenship Day

Level: Upper Primary to Middle Secondary

The Australian Government’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship provides information about Australian citizenship. The resources for schools encourage young Australians to think about the values underpinning Australian citizenship and the responsibilities and privileges of Australian citizenship. This can be helpful for celebrating Australian Citizenship Day on September 17. Read more.

National Australia Day Council

Level: Middle to Upper Primary

The National Australia Day Council is the coordinating body for the Australian of the Year Awards and Australia Day celebrations across the nation. Read more.

Human Rights

Amnesty International Australia

Level: Lower to Upper Secondary

Amnesty International is a not-for-profit organisation committed to campaigning for access to human rights for every person. Their website gives details of current campaigns, latest reports, action ideas and links to other human rights sites. There are resources for teachers and students to explore a wide range of human rights topics in a creative and dynamic way and resources for taking action about the issues. Read more.

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

Level: Lower to Upper Secondary

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) is an independent statutory organisation which reports to the federal Parliament through the Attorney-General. Its goal is to foster greater understanding and protection of human rights in Australia. The website has detailed information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice, disability rights, racial discrimination and sex discrimination. There are many useful resources for teachers and students. Read more.

Racism. No way!

Level: Upper Primary to Middle Secondary

This website contains a large amount of information on such themes as culture, ethnicity, history of migration, recognising and understanding racism, and reconciliation. There are also a large number of classroom teaching and learning activities with downloadable worksheets. The student section includes comics, competitions, graffiti wall, puzzles and quizzes. Read more.

Department of Immigration and Citizenship

Level: Middle to Upper Secondary

This Australian Government website provides current information on all matters related to visiting and/or gaining residency in Australia. Read more.

Reconciliation Australia

Level: Middle to Upper Secondary

Reconciliation Australia is the non-government, not-for-profit foundation to provide a continuing national focus for reconciliation. There are links to wide range of current activities throughout Australia. Read more.

Immigration and Refugee Issues

A Just Australia

Level: Middle to Upper Secondary

'A just Australia' is the theme of the campaign coordinated by national campaign umbrella group, Australians for Just Refugee Programs Inc. It is a national campaign which incorporates a series of public awareness activities including public events, meetings, advertising, lobbying in Canberra, research, letter writing and protest actions. The website gives information on current events, newsletters, policies and texts of media releases. Read more.

ActionAid Australia

Level: Upper Primary to Middle Secondary

ActionAid's work centres around six priority areas: women's and girls' rights; the right to education; the right to food; the right to just and democratic governance; the right to human security in conflict and emergencies; and the right to life and dignity in the face of HIV and AIDS. Their website provides general information about the issues and specific programs in countries such as Cambodia, Nepal, Timor-Leste and Kenya. Read more.

Harmony Day

Level: Middle Primary to Middle Secondary

Living in Harmony is an Australian Government initiative designed to promote community harmony, build relationships between people and address racism where it occurs in Australia. The website contains general information for the celebration of Harmony Day on 21 March. Read more.

Refugee Council of Australia

Level: Lower to Upper Secondary

The Refugee Council of Australia provides information on and advocacy for refugees and humanitarian entrants to Australia. It is not a government agency. The website has up-to-date facts and figures and discussions on current issues. Read more.

General Resources

Screen Australia

Level: Upper Primary to Upper Secondary

Screen Australia produces television documentaries and educational programs. The website includes an online library with a huge teacher notes section. You can download PDF files and order teacher notes and titles for short and long films and television series. Subjects include Australian biography, civil rights, immigration, federation, Indigenous affairs, East Timor and a large range of social issues. Read more.

The National Centre for History Education

Level: Middle Primary to Upper Secondary

This site contains information and resources that have been developed for primary and secondary school teachers who are involved in the teaching of history. Read more.

Australian Federation of Societies for Studies of Society and the Environment (AFSSSE)

Level: Upper Primary to Upper Secondary

This website has links to the wide range of social studies issues including Discovering Democracy resources for teachers and students. Senior-secondary case studies include the history of democracy and enterprise education; Australian identity; taking environmental action; and population, representation, political affiliations, demographics and immigration. Other case studies demonstrate classroom practice and include unit plans on researching your first parliamentarian; post and rail; and enterprise education. There is also a teacher handbook to support use of the Parliament at Work CD-ROM. Read more.

Values Education

This website is a dynamic portal for Australian school communities to find out more about the Australian Government’s values education initiatives. The website includes the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools, information about the Values Education Study, resources for values education and information about current events. Read more.

Studies of Asia

The Asia Education Foundation website contains a wide variety of materials for studies of Asia. Read more.

Chinese History of Australian Federation

Level: Lower to Middle Secondary

The Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation Project celebrates the contribution of Australia’s Chinese communities to the early founding and subsequent development of Australia. It focuses on the private, community and public life of Australia's Chinese communities before and after federation in 1901. The education link includes primary source materials and lesson plans for junior- and middle-secondary students developed around topics such as 'Active citizenship', 'Chinese communities', 'Federation and the early Commonwealth', and 'Political voices in the Chinese–Australian community in the late 19th century'. Read more.

CIA World Factbook

Level: Upper Primary to Middle Secondary

This annually updated website has extensive information on each country’s people, geography, economy and governmental structure. Read more.