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The Australian Parliament

Text The Australian Parliament

TLF ID M009544

This website resource is a teacher reference about the Australian Parliament, its constituent parts and how it works. It describes in general terms the movement towards Federation then looks at the symbols and emblems subsequently adopted by the Commonwealth of Australia. The resource includes a list of the democratic rights enjoyed by citizens of Australia and the dates on which they were gained. A section focused on facts about Australian democracy concludes the resource.

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Educational details

Educational value
  • This website provides teachers and students with a clear summary of the elements and functions of the Australian Parliament. It explains the relationships between the Senate and the House of Representatives, the British monarchy and the governor-general, and all aspects of the voting system. Students could draw, or search the internet for, a graphic representation of the parliament with all its elements and write brief paragraphs on the role of the two houses of parliament.
  • This resource investigates the symbols and emblems chosen after Federation to represent Australia. Students analyse the symbols for the values they reflect and consider what they say about Australian identity.
  • The resource explores the voting rights achieved at Federation, and also considers how some Australians, such as Indigenous people, did not achieve these rights. It contains information on the Electoral Act of 1902 and on the legislation passed in 1962. A fruitful task for students might involve a class discussion followed by a research project on why it took until 1962 for Indigenous peoples to gain the right to vote.
Topics Voting rights Democracy Electorates Federation Lower house Upper house Westminster system
Learning area
  • Civics and citizenship
  • History

Other details

Contributors
  • Contributor
  • Name: The Department of Education\, Employment and Workplace Relations (DE
  • Organization: The Department of Education\, Employment and Workplace Relations (DE
  • Description: content provider
  • Address: ACT, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.deewr.gov.au
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: Commonwealth of Australia
  • Organization: Commonwealth of Australia
  • Address: ACT, AUSTRALIA
  • Publisher
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organization: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Description: Publisher
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Unknown
Learning Resource Type
  • Text
Rights
  • © Commonwealth of Australia 2009. With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms and the DEEWR logo and copyright material that is owned by third parties, you may use the material in accordance with a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike (CC BY-SA) 3.0 Australia licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/au/ provided that appropriate acknowledgement is made, the material is not subjected to derogatory treatment and any derivative work attributes the original material and identifies the changes that have been made to it.