Civics & Citizenship

Civics & Citizenship

6 Key Principals Of Civics & Citizenship
Democracy
Democratic Values
The Westminster System
Justice
Participation
Rights & Responsibilities

Civics And Citizenship

Parliament

The Constitution

Democracy
A Democracy is a system of government where the people have the power to govern themselves.

Democratic Values
Democratic Values are belief and ideals that are held by our society as a democracy.

Democratic Values:
Respect:
Treating others with consideration and valuing their Views, Beliefs and Rights.
Equality
All Citizens have the right to have the same opportunities without discrimination.
Fairness
All people are treated fairly and are given equal opportunities.
Freedom
Rights, Privilages and Responsibilities for all without interference or control from other citizens or government.

The Westminster System
The Westminster System is a form of parliamentary government that originated from the United Kingdom. It is named after the area of London where the British Parliament is located.

Justice
The concept of Justice in Australia ultimately means that people should treat each other in a manner that is fair and balanced.

Participation
As a part of democratic societies, participation is important in giving citizens a sense of ownership or accountability in the running of society:
Voting

Paying Taxes
Jury Duty
Protesting or Demonstrating about important views
Signing petitions that aim to make a change to society
Participating in a political discussions
Contacting a local member of parliament about issues

Rights & Responsibilities
A right is a choice to make your own opinion and entitlement to things such as education, religion and freedom of speech. Responsibilities are duties or something an individual should do such as following the law and rules.

3 Levels of Government
FEDERAL
STATE
LOCAL

Federal Government
The Federal Government creates laws for the whole of Australia:
Australian Defense
Australian Constitution
Telecommunications
Customs and Immigration
Money
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land rights

State Government
The State Government works on/creates laws for a specific State or Territory:
Health
Education
Housing Roads
Power

Local Government
The Local Government works on/creates laws for a Local Suburb or District:
Parks
Pools
Sporting and Recreation
Garbage
Libraries
Sewerage

Separation of Powers
THE LEGISLATURE
THE EXECUTIVE
THE JUDICIARY

The Legislature
Responsible for creating the law.
There are two houses in Parliament:

The Senate (Upper House)
The House of Representatives (Lower House)

The Executive
Responsible for approving laws and putting them into action.

Prime Minister
Ministers
Governor-General (Kings Representative)
Government Departments

The Judiciary
Their role is to make Rulings and Judgements about the Law.
Their Courts interpret the laws made by the parliament and apply them to specific cases and disputes.

Four Main Courts in Australia

Hight Court
Federal Court
Federal Circuit Court
Family Court of Australia

Civics & Citizenship

CIVICS - The study of the rights and duties of a citizen.

CITIZENSHIP - The status of belonging to a particular country.

The Constitution of a Legal Document that sets out the laws of how to govern a Nation.
It is an agreement among the 6 Colonies (Now States) outlining the division of power and the Rules or Laws in what would be the new Federal Parliament of Australia.

The Australian Constitution was written between 1890 and 1900. It came into effect on January 1st 1901, this is when Australia became a federation.

Key Aspects of the Constitution

DEMOCRACY
In a Representative Democracy, all Representatives must be chosen/elected by the people of the Commonwealth.

THE RULE OF THE LAW
Nobody is above the no matter their social class or wealth.

SEPARATION OF POWERS

Executive - Responsible for Proposing Laws
Judiciary - Responsible for Applying the Laws
Legislature - Responsible for Making the Laws

FEDERALISM
That the individual States/Territories retain many powers that they originally had before the Federation.
If Federal and State laws are made about the same thing, then the Federal law takes precedent.

NATIONHOOD
A feeling of unity and shared identity between the people that make up a country.

RIGHTS
5 rights are stated in the Australian Constitution:

Religious Freedom
Trial by Jury
"Just Terms" Compensation (Protection from fraudulent acquisition of property)

The Australian Constitution is considered the "Birth Certificate" of Australia because it provides the basic rules on how to govern Australia.

The Australian Constitution can be changed or altered if required by a Referendum. A Referendum is the process where Australian voters choose whether or not to change the Australian Constitution. The Constitution is so important that not only politicians but also the citizens have to approve of any such changes to it.

DOUBLE MAJORITY
The Australian Constitution can only be changed with a Double Majority. Double Majority is when the introduced law gets a majority of "YES" votes in all of Australia and the majority of voters in at least 4 states.

HOW TO CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION

Since 1901, there have been 19 Referendums, proposing 44 changes to the Constitution, only 8 changes were actually passed.

REFERENDUMS PASSED:

12th of December 1906 with 82.65% of Australians Voting "YES"
13th of April 1910 with 54.95% of Australians Voting "YES"
17th of November 1928 with 74.30 of Australians Voting "YES"
28th of September 1946 with 54.39% of Australians Voting "YES"
27th of May 1967 with 90.77% of Australians Voting "YES"
21st of May 1977 with 73.32% of Australian Voting "YESS"
21st of May 1977 with 77.72% of Australians Voting "YES"
21st of May 1977 with 80.10% of Australians Voting "YES"

The Australian Parliament represents the people of Australia, and makes and changes Australian laws. The Australian Parliament house is located in ACT, Canberra.

Australia's System of Government
The Australian Parliament is made up of the King, Governor General (Kings Representative), The Senate and The House of Representatives.

Roles of Parliament
The Australian Parliament has 4 main Roles:

Making and Changing Federal Laws.
Representing the People of Australia.
Providing a place where Government is formed.
Keeping a check on the work of the Government

2 Types of Democracy's

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY
In most democratic societies, citizens elect people who will represent them in Government, this is called a Representative Democracy

DIRECT DEMOCRACY
A Direct Democracy involves citizens meeting together to make laws for their society

Payback

Revenge from doing harm upon others and settled by the court (Justice can be in the form of imprisonment or fines).
Fairness

Protected from discrimination, you can not be fired from your work if you have different opinions, beliefs, skin color, gender, etc.

RIGHTS

The right to vote
Protection against acquisition of property on unjust terms
The right to trial by Jury
The right to freedom of religion
Protection against discrimination

RESPONSIBILITIES

Voting in elections
Jury service
Paying taxes
Obeying the law

The Senate and The House of Representatives
In the lead up to Federation, the people who drafted the Australian Constitution decided that the Australian Parliament should have 2 houses, The Senate and The House of Representatives. This is called the Bicameral Parliament, which means that the 2 houses share the power to make laws.

House of Representatives
The House of Representatives (Lower House) is one of two chambers of the Australian Parliament and is made up of 151 elected members. Members of the House of Representatives represent the people of their electorate by debating, voting on bills, examining issues in committees and checking the work of the Government.

The Senate
The Senate (Upper House) is one of two chambers of the Australian Parliament and is made up of 76 elected Senators. Senators represent the people of their State or Territory by debating and voting on bills, examining issues in the committees and checking the work of the Government.

The Senate is a part of the Australian Parliament which also consists of the King (Represented by the Governor-General) and the House of Representatives.

Australia was colonised by the British in 1788 and In 1901, the Australian Constitution established the Australian Parliament, also known as the Federal Parliament or the Commonwealth Parliament.

The Role of The Senate

Senators represent the views of Australians and discuss of National and International importance.
National laws are made and changed by debating and voting on bills-Proposed laws.
A bill MUST be agreed to in identical form in the House of Representatives and The Senate, and given Royal Assent by the Governor-General. Then it becomes a law.
The work of the Government is Scrutinized (Closely examined), especially in Question Time and and through out Committees

The Role of The House of Representatives

Members represent the views of Australians and discuss of National and International importance.
National laws are made and changed by debating and voting on bills-Proposed laws.
A bill MUST be agreed to in identical form in the House of Representatives and The Senate, and given Royal Assent by the Governor-General. Then it becomes a law.
The work of the Government is Scrutinized (Closely examined), especially in Question Time and and through out Committees.

Passing Acts of Parliament into Law

The Senate is a powerful chamber that can seek amendments of bills, or stop them from passing into a law by not voting for it.
The Government needs to convince enough people in the Senate to vote for the bill to get it to pass the house.
A bill needs to pass both houses and get the signature of the Governor-General to become an official law.

Government Hierarchy
Federal
Governor General - Kings Representative
Prime Minister
Senate (Upper House)
House of Representatives (Lower House)

State
Govenor
Premier
Legislative Assembly (Upper House)
Legislative Council (Lower House)

Local
Mayor
Local Council

LEGAL SYSTEMS

In Western Australia, the hierarchy starts from the Magistrates Court to the District Court and then to the Supreme Court. To go above the Supreme Court, a case must go to the High Court of Australia, the ultimate court from which there is no appeal.

Participants in the Legal System
Participants is the legal system are:

Judge
Witness
Prosecutor
Defense Lawyer
Solicitor
Bailiff
Jury
Defendant
Hansard Reporter
Judge's Assistant

Rule of Law
The basic concept of rule of law is that: - Everyone should the rules and laws, so everyone can follow them.

No one is above the law no matter their social status or standing.
The law is applied to everyone without discrimination or special privileges.

Right to Fair Trial
All people are equal in the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.

Appeal
For an appeal to succeed a party must convince the Court that the Judge that heard the original case made an error of law and that the error was of such significance that the decision should be overturned.

Legal Representation
The right to legal representation means that in court if someone is accused of a crime, even if they cannot pay for an attorney, an attorney still has to take on the case and effectively argue for their client.

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1967 Referendum
On 27 May 1967, Australians voted to change the Constitution so that like all other Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would be counted as part of the population and the Commonwealth would be able to make laws for them.

1999 Referendum
The Australian Government Proposed 2 changes to the Constitution. The first change was whether Australian voters approved the proposal to establish Australia as a republic and the second change was whether they approved the proposal to insert a preamble in the Constitution.