Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Part A: Do we have access to a fair share in Australia?

15 minutes

Part B: What is income and what is wealth?

30 minutes

Part C: Play it Out

20 minutes

Part D: Call to Action

5 minutes

Reflection

Part A: Do we have access to a fair share in Australia?

Step 1

Inform your students that we are about to discuss some sensitive topics. Acknowledge that we may feel emotional or concerned and this is entirely normal. Consider what is appropriate for your class and encourage students to draw on their strengths and use empathy and kindness.

Step 2

Invite your class to watch the distribution of income and wealth in Australia video and ask your students to share any thoughts or feelings with a partner. Invite partners to share their opinions with the class. You may like to consider using the following questions to help students dissect the topic and understand why inequality is unfair:

What is Alf worried about in this clip?
Should we be concerned about the issue of inequality?
How would you feel if you were in the lowest 20% and ‘squeezed out' of your lane? It seems pretty unfair, doesn’t it?
Can you remember what percentage he said has the most income or wealth?

While you go through the questions, you may like to write or draw simple representations of this data so that students can ‘see’ the mathematical problem, talk about it and hear what you and the other students are saying.

Part B: What is income and what is wealth?

Step 1

Facilitate a class discussion about the meaning of income and wealth. Direct students through the Poverty and Inequality website as you explore various terminology until you develop a class definition for each of the terms.

Step 2

Now that students are aware of the meaning of income and wealth, ask students what income and wealth are made up of and how people obtain a source of income?

1) Households in Australia get their income from three main sources:

wages and salary
investments, including superannuation
social security payments.

2) Wealth in Australia is made up of:

the home
superannuation
shares and other financial assets
investment real estate
other non-financial assets, such as cars.

Before moving on to the next step ensure students are given the opportunity to ask questions and understand the importance of income.

Step 3

Show the students an infographic of income and wealth inequality from the Inequality in Australia 2023: Overview. Focus on the marginal difference between the three incomes and wealth. As a class, reflect on the data and discuss the following:

How unequal are the incomes in Australia?
Work out the difference between the lowest, middle and highest income and how this might affect the affordability of living
Discuss the wealth inequality in Australia and the differences.

Part C: Play it out

Step 1

Invite your students to play a game of Monopoly and explain that this game will vary slightly compared to the traditional rules that they might be used to. Basically, students will have the opportunity to experience the data they have been exposed to and some might experience more restrictions than others. These restrictions will be based on each player's income and wealth.

Step 2

Divide the class into groups of three and provide each group with a game pack and 1 x 6 sided dice. Explain to the students that each player will have a different income.

Player 1 will have an income of $794 a week based on the bottom 20% of income in Australia.
Their wealth will be $36 000.

Player 2 will have an income of $1884 a week based on the middle 20% of income in Australia.
Their wealth will be $588 000.

Player 3 will have an income of $4306 a week based on the top 20% of income in Australia.
Their wealth will be $3 240 000.

Step 3

Share the rules of the game with the students. You will find these on page three of Monopoly Game Board, along with more details for each player.

Part D: Call to action

Step 1

After playing a restricted version of Monopoly, students may come to realise the difficulties and the unfairness felt due to a lower income and wealth. Support your students' thinking and encourage them to think about what could be done to alleviate this stress and increase income for people in Australia. Begin this conversation by asking your students:

Why do you think some people are able to obtain a higher income?
Why do you believe some people have high wealth?
How are the two interconnected?
Is this a fair way for everyone to live?
What can we do to ensure everyone gets a fair share?

Step 2

Create a mind map of your students thinking and conduct some additional research about Anti Poverty Week, their social actions listed on the website. Ask your class whether they have considered these options and how they make a difference to the people experiencing low income in Australia?

Step 3

Navigate through the various options listed on the Anti-Poverty Week website and decide which one of these activities will raise the most awareness and money for people experiencing poverty? Provide justifications for your reasons and consider how you might implement this activity in your school.

Reflection

Ask your student to reflect on the following prompt:

If I could do one thing to help income and wealth inequality in Australia what would I do?

Invite students to write down their response or share with a partner.

Differentiated learning

Extension - Encourage students to investigate the yearly income for each Monopoly player. If they were paid weekly for 12 months what would their income for the whole year be?

Provisions for Learning Support - Some students may need one on one support while reading and comprehending information or counting money using notes. Some students may also need emotional support, please prepare educational support staff to guide students through the lesson.

Teacher reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

• What did you learn about your teaching practice?
• What worked well?
• What didn't work so well?
• What would you share?
• Where to next?
• How are you going to get there?

Poverty and Inequality in Australia - Fair Share

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UN Sustainable Development Goals

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