Story of Our Rights and Freedoms - Changing the Australian Constitution

(V9) Australian curriculum content descriptions:

Year 7 Civics and Citizenship:

• The role of the Australian Constitution in providing the basis for Australia’s federal system of government and democratic processes, including institutions, and the process for constitutional change through a referendum (AC9HC9K01)
• The key features of Australia’s system of government, including democracy, the Australian Constitution, responsible government and federalism (AC9HC7K01) 
• Locate, select and organise information, data and ideas from different sources (AC9HC7S02) 
• Develop questions to investigate Australia’s political and legal systems, and contemporary civic issues (AC9HC7S01) 
• Analyse information, data and ideas about civic, political or legal issues to identify and explain differences in perspectives and potential challenges (AC9HC7S03) 

General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking 

Relevant parts of year 7 achievement standards: Students develop questions and locate, select and organise information from sources to investigate political and legal systems, and contemporary civic issues. They analyse information and identify perspectives and challenges related to political, legal or civic issues. They identify and describe the methods or strategies related to civic participation or action. Students use civics and citizenship concepts, terms and sources to create descriptions, explanations and arguments.

Unit of work: Story of Our Rights and Freedoms – Year 7.

Time required: 60 mins.

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – guide student discussion.

• Student Worksheet – one copy per student
• Device capable of audio/visual presentation to present a website to the class
• Closer Look: The Australian Constitution (produced by the Parliamentary Education Office), printed or accessed online via student devices
• Referendum Process Cards (cut out and mixed up before the lesson; enough for groups of 3-4 to share)
• ‘Referendum’ presentation
• ‘Double Majority’ AEC poster

This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:

• Communication
• Creativity
• Empathy

Throughout the Story of Our Rights and Freedoms lessons, students will consider Civics and Citizenship concepts through a human rights lens. They will critically assess the Australian system of government and the effect that it has on our rights and freedoms.
There is no universally accepted definition of human rights, and our understanding is continually developing. Some definitions include:

• The recognition and respect of peoples’ dignity
• A set of moral and legal guidelines that promote and protect the recognition of our values, our identity and access to an adequate standard of living
• The basic standards by which we can identify and measure inequality and fairness
• Those rights associated with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

When we talk about human rights we usually refer to principles that have been agreed upon by countries throughout the world. These rights have been set down in international agreements and form part of international law. They can also be written into the domestic law of individual countries. Human rights cover virtually every area of human life and activity. These include:

• Civil and political rights, such as freedom of speech and freedom from torture
• Economic and social rights, such as the rights to health and education
• Individual rights, including the right to a fair trial
• Collective rights, or those rights that apply to groups of people, such as the right to a healthy environment or to live on one’s ancestral land.

The UDHR is an international document that recognises the basic rights and fundamental freedoms to which all human beings are entitled. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 and marks a key milestone in the history of human rights. The Magna Carta, though limited in who it protected, was an important precursor to the UDHR.

Click here to watch a video about the Magna Carta.

You can view the entire text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the other core international human rights treaties, on the United Nation’s website or by downloading RightsApp (free from the iTunes App store).