Just Representation

1. Introduction for Parents

Unfortunately, many resources looking at Civics and Governance and the courts of law are very dry and boring. They seem tedious and somewhat abstract and disconnected from the everyday life experiences of your average teenager. While courtroom drama scenes in novels and movies can seem suspenseful and compelling, the details of this overall system may appear rather different.

 

Fortunately, the team at My Homeschool wishes for your teenager to receive a broad feast of an education and we are pleased to engage them in issues about representation in Parliamentary and court systems with a sense of expectation and anticipation.

 

One of my degrees is in Law and I continued to study aspects of Law as a part of my postgraduate studies. I worked in Public Service for many years, involved in legislative drafting and the development and implementation of government policy.  It was exciting and rewarding to see decisions and initiatives I was involved in make real and positive changes for our society.  While I’ve been privileged to be involved in these areas, as a homeschooling parent I am also aware of those areas where some teenagers might be tempted to ‘tune out’, consider it not applicable to them, or be uninspired by the way the materials are presented.

As part of the process to develop this resource I am pleased to share that the teenager cohort in our local Co-Op engaged in learning about the process of making laws and implementing them. This made me convinced that, with the right resources, even reluctant teenagers can be shown that there are intriguing aspects to this key part of our cohesive public life.  Before long your teenager will be able to vote and we want them to understand what that vote represents and how it relates to them and their responsibilities and duties of being a citizen. We want them to be informed and educated about this aspect of our society.

 

This unit is just one small snippet of what is involved in being a citizen and how governance works. I hope that you have been encouraged to see the benefits of studying Plutarch’s Lives within your Year Nine program.  Along with resources like this one, reading more about such lives gives your teenager a glimpse into what aspects they might like to see in their leaders and get them thinking about the range of issues and topics that our leaders need to be responsible for.

 

Jo Lloyd

2. Lesson 1: The Process of Making Laws and Division of Powers

To Start

Please watch these videos about the process of making laws.

This video details the process of making a law in the Australian Parliament (3:50 mins):

  

 

Please watch this longer one to learn how laws are made (10:50 mins):

 

 

This video shows how the Parliament of Victoria puts forward a bill and creates law (2:40 mins):

 

Consider

While the videos outline the process of how a law is made in both the Australian and the Victorian Parliaments, do you know how it is determined which Parliament can make laws on which topic? For example, what would happen if the Victorian Parliament tried to pass laws that were different to laws that the Australian Parliament had in place already?

 

You would have noticed that one of the videos mentioned the Constitution. While it is often referred to as “the Constitution”, the full title is the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act. It came into force on 1st January, 1901 and is the set of rules that details how the country of Australia is to be run. It establishes the Australian Parliament, details how the powers are to be shared between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories, the High Court of Australia and the Executive Government. The Constitution includes what is called the Division of Powers, outlining what the Australian Parliament and Federal level of government will be responsible for and what the State and Territory governments look after and manage.

 

Under the Constitution the Australian Parliament is to manage issues relating to aspects like immigration, taxation, defence, trade and commerce with other countries and defence. The essence is that they are responsible for overseeing issues that relate to Australia as a whole nation and, as a nation, how it responds to other nations. The States and Territories are responsible for managing the affairs within their borders, including education, health affairs, railways, public transport, community services, agriculture, industries, and managing the criminal acts within their jurisdiction. The split of responsibilities is referred to as the Division of Powers because the Constitution divides those powers between the national and state and territory governments.

The Constitution also states that if a state or territory parliament and the national Parliament both pass laws on the same topic then the legislation enacted by the Australian Parliament will override the state or territory law.  So, that answers the question of what would happen if the Victorian Parliament passed a law different to one from the Australian Parliament: the Victorian one would be overruled.

 

Please take a look at these links for further information:

This website details information about Australia's Constitution.

This video explains the three levels of government in Australia (12:50 mins):

 

 

Taking It Further

While you now know about how laws are made and what the national Parliament can create laws on compared to state and territory parliaments, what do you know about how interests and groups are represented in that process? The theme for this resource is to consider representation within different aspects of citizenship and representing interests is an important part of making legislation.

 

Imagine if a bill was presented by a Member of Parliament that a group felt strongly about because it represented a major change. For example, what if a Member of Parliament was to propose a bill that would prevent home education in your state or territory. It is likely that your family and your homeschooling friends would want to say something about that. You would want to represent your interest in the topic and say why that bill should not be passed. You know already that the process by which a bill becomes law has been developed to allow for Members of Parliament to carefully consider the provisions being proposed, examine the potential impacts, debate the topics and request amendments to be drafted.

 

In Australia citizens have the opportunity to share their views on proposed bills. Parliamentary debates are available for us to watch or listen to so we can have access to information about the machinations of our parliaments. Not all countries allow their citizens to be informed about such matters, but as a democratic nation this is a hallmark of the Australian political system. Take a look at this link and you can see how many bills are currently before the Australian Parliament, how many have been assented to and how many they have determined will not be proceeding. This is just one small way you can see what is happening at the national Parliament level.

But what happens if you take a look at that list and you see that the Parliament is currently debating a bill on a topic or issue that you feel strongly about and want to share your views on? Well, you can contact your local Member for Parliament or Senator and share your views via an email or a letter. You can also look to see if there are other groups who are working on the issue, sometimes called lobby groups. Lobbyists are individuals or groups who actively work to effect change by continuing to speak out on an issue that they feel strongly about.  They seek to speak to politicians and other interested individuals to make their views heard. Lobbying is a broad term and is taken to mean the actions that individuals or groups take to influence policies, decisions, and legislation to accommodate their own interests.  Lobbyists work hard to represent their interests so they can be accommodated within the decision-making process. Lobbyists may be people so passionate about a particular issue that they dedicate their time to represent their views, or they may be professionals who are very skilled at the art of persuasion and so take on clients to be paid to represent their interests.  Here is some information about professional lobbyists and how they seek to exert influence within the US political system and also the role of lobbying in the Australian Parliament.

This ABC video examines the role of lobbying here in Australia and the importance of citizens having access to diary information of and financial donations given to elected representatives (5:40 mins):

 

 

Interested in the role of lobbying in the US system? This video shows how some individuals and groups hire a professional lobbyist to help them share their views more strongly and with more persuasive power (5:40 mins):