The Constitution Education Fund Australia’s (CEFA’s) bold plan to make civics a national initiative will be announced shortly into the commencement of the 2010 school and university new year. CEFA has developed a ten year strategy to implement a national civics education program that will enhance engagement of the Australian public with democratic processes and improve knowledge and understanding of the Australian Constitution. Millions of Australians will also be engaged each year with Australia’s democratic heritage, derived from hundreds of years of trial, error, and refinement of the Westminster tradition.

Mrs Kerry Jones, Executive Director of CEFA stated earlier today “we are particularly excited that CEFA has attracted millions of dollars in sponsorship for our important work. This sponsorship will mean we can reach every school and every university in the nation in 2010 and build on this annually for the rest of the decade. We will shortly announce the details of what I believe will be the most pioneering and exciting civics education initiative ever seen in the world”.

Mrs Kerry Jones, CEFA Executive Director

Mrs Jones added “The Commonwealth of Australia is a unique and privileged nation. Challenges abound, of course, but peace, freedom, relative prosperity and unfettered personal opportunity are the considerable fruits of more than a century of robust democracy.

Our democratic heritage is derived from hundreds of years of trial, error and refinement of the Westminster tradition. From the commencement of European settlement until the middle of the 20^th century, Australia’s populace consisted of indigenous people and migrants imported almost entirely from English speaking countries governed under the Westminster system. Since World War 2, Australia’s demography has changed drastically. The number of immigrants and refugees now becoming Australians means that what an Australian looks like and sounds like is also changing rapidly.

No longer can the term Australian be defined by longevity of residence, ethnicity, family heritage or cultural traditions. It can’t be defined in relation to beaches or farms or natural resources or any kind of physical geography. It can’t be defined by education, trade or profession. It can’t be defined by sports or arts. Though one’s personal definition may include any and all of these. Then what is the essential, definable quality that truly makes one an Australian? It is simply yet profoundly a willingness to unite under the democratic system of law and government that fosters and protects the unique, privileged Australian way of life.  

The multiplicity of languages and traditions that comprise modern Australia inevitably lead to a more diverse, culturally rich and vibrant society. This generation of Australians has an enlarged responsibility to recognize that which makes Australia what it is, to engage in that process, and to pass on that heritage. 

This new, emerging responsibility was articulated in a December 2, 2009 report from the Australian Council on Educational Research which indicated that the schools of the past can no longer suffice for the schools of the future and that the schools of the future must include much more in the way of civics and citizenship if they are to properly prepare students for life beyond school (see Australian Education Review number 55, Touching the Future: Building skills for life and work).  

Similarly, on December 10, 2009, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs recommended that “the Australian Government develop and implement a national civics education program to enhance the engagement of the Australian public in democratic processes and to improve knowledge and understanding of the Australian Constitution.” This latter recommendation goes well beyond formal education in schools, drawing attention to the need for a general, national initiative.”