Boosting the education of young people about the important role civics and citizenship play in our society will be the focus of sweeping nation-leading curriculum reforms outlined by the Malinauskas Labor Government today.

Civics will be overhauled in public schools with an $18.4m investment, ensuring every student graduates with the knowledge and skills needed in an increasingly polarized world.

The changes include:

• All years 7 and 8 public school students will study civics and citizenship for an hour per week.
• Every subject in years 9 and 10 will have civics and citizenship incorporated into it as part of the introduction of a Cross-Curriculum Priority.
• Public schools will be supported to introduce new opportunities for students to participate in school-based democratic opportunities, such as SRCs.
• All public school students will be able to participate in an annual Active Citizenship Convention, starting next year, putting their education into practice.

These reforms – designed to strengthen the future of democracy in South Australia – will see the state lead the nation in this area. We will also be the first state or territory to introduce a specialised civics teacher in every public high school and B-12 school.

Increasing an educational focus on the civics and citizenship was championed by the South Australian Governor Frances Adamson AC, along with the Premier, and the advocacy of the Commissioner for Children and Young People Helen Connolly, who has argued for more civics and citizenship education in South Australia.

Civics is currently delivered through Humanities and Social Sciences as a compulsory aspect of learning between the years of 3 and 8. However, the quality of this delivery is mixed due to a lack of specialist teachers.

There has been a 15 per cent decline in students studying year 12 Politics, Power and People between 2021 and 2023 – highlighting the need for urgent reform.

The introduction of a Cross-Curriculum Priority, which currently exists in the Australian Curriculum for Sustainability, Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, will mean that teachers in all subject areas in years 9 and 10 will need to embed civics into existing content. This will support students to apply the knowledge they learn in years 7 and 8 to real topics and scenarios across areas including science, maths, arts and English.

The Department will also work with schools to increase the offering of politics in SACE so more students have the opportunity to study it in their senior school years.

Additionally, a three-day statewide Active Citizenship Convention will be hosted annually, starting in 2025, for students to engage in workshops about issues of importance to them; and to learn about the ways in which relevant laws and policies are made and how they are influenced.

A working group, chaired by Department for Education Chief Executive Professor Martin Westwell, will oversee the implementation of these reforms.

Related article

• https://www.weare.sa.gov.au/news/democracy-manifest-civics-to-receive-overhaul-in-sa-schools#:~:text=All%20year%207%20and%208%20public%20school%20students,for%20students%20to%20participate%20in%20school-based%20democratic%20opportunities.