Recommendations for strengthened and standardised civics education for Australian students have been made by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters in its report, From Classroom to Community: Civics education and political participation in Australia.
Committee Chair, Senator the Hon Carol Brown said 'Australia's system of compulsory voting means that all Australians need to be informed to participate in our democracy and elections. This is particularly important at a time where democracies around the world, including Australia, are facing rising disengagement, distrust, and misinformation and disinformation in a complex online information environment.
'The Committee heard clear evidence that the quality of formal civics education varies considerably between the states and territories, and even individual schools – which means that many young people are not getting the information they need to be informed and responsible citizens. It is clear that Australia needs a strengthened and standardised approach to civics and citizenship education.'
The report makes 23 recommendations, informed by the people most affected by the topics considered. Key recommendations include:
- nationally aligned and mandated civics and citizenship content in the Australian Curriculum and better support for teachers through high-quality professional development
- resourcing to allow more students to visit Canberra or access digital learning experiences
- strengthening access to civics education for adults, including working with trusted grassroots community organisations and community leaders to provide culturally appropriate voter education opportunities and materials
- creating meaningful opportunities for diverse young people to have their say on formal policies and processes
- prioritising media and digital literacy in the Australian Curriculum and working with community organisations to deliver media and digital literacy training for vulnerable populations
- resourcing for factual, translated resources to counteract disinformation
- advancing research on media consumption patterns and recommender systems on social media.
