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The Constitution Education Fund Australia (CEFA) describes Australia's system of government and democracy as being anchored by five pillars which needs
constant refreshing and maintenance. The Australian Parliament serves under the rules of the Australian Constitution achieved through the 1901 peaceful federation of the States. Based on the traditions of the Westminster system, Australia is one of only two countries in the world where voting in federal, State and Local Government elections is compulsory for all citizens 18 years and over. The Constitution Education Fund Australia
The CEFA Trust was established in 1994. The CEFA charity has adopted the mission of educating Australians about their Constitution and its relevance to the Australian way of life. More than 10 years ago CEFA developed the Five Pillars of Australian Democracy as the heart of its educational blueprint. This document serves three main purposes:
(1) To define a core base of brief but accurate concepts about the Australian Constitution and system of government that could serve as a ‘working knowledge’ for every Australian.
(2) To provide the organising framework for CEFA's Key civics education projects. (3) To provide the organising framework for the free online education resources being constantly prepared and updated for educators and students.
In 2004 CEFA’s work as a not-for-profit organisation was recognised by the Australian Parliament. It continues to attract the support of a wide range of Australians from all walks of life who believe CEFA’s mission of educating for democracy is essential.
Prominent supporters of CEFA’s work
Her Excellency Quentin Bryce, Governor-General of Australia
“What a splendid concept, to empower young Australians to become active, engaged and responsible citizens... We are a young country, but a strong one; a multicultural nation brought together by our democratic values and Constitution. In our fast-paced and globalised world, it is vital that all young Australians understand our governance systems, to enable them to participate effectively in current and future political discussions.”
- The Hon. Julia Gillard MP, Prime Minister of Australia
“Participation in CEFA’s School Parliaments would give students opportunities to develop an understanding of, and commitment to, Australia’s democratic system of government, law and civic life and the knowledge, skills and values that support active citizenship and the capacity to act as informed and responsible citizens.”
- The Hon. Sir William Deane, former Governor-General and Chairman of CARE Australia
“The Governor-General’s Undergraduate Essay Competition is an outstanding initiative. It will make a significant contribution to Australia’s awareness and understanding of our Constitution, our system of government and their history and working. By doing that, the initiative will serve the interests of the Australian people generally.”
Steve Waugh, former Australian Cricket Team Captain and Australian of the Year
“In my travels playing cricket for Australia, I saw a number of countries without the freedoms we enjoy. These experiences brought home to me the importance of the Australian Constitution. The more Australians understand the important role played by our Constitution, the stronger we will be as a community.”
Australian Democracy: A Modern Miracle
CEFA believes that the way of life offered by Australian Democracy is genuinely a modern miracle. CEFA’s mission is to ensure that all Australians understand Australian Democracy and why it is important for our way of life. CEFA takes a broad view of Australian Democracy. On the one hand, Australian Democracy involves the system of formal institutions laid down by the Australian Constitution. On the other hand, it involves the set of informal values that allows our communal life to flourish.
The Five Pillars of Australian DemocracyCEFA has identified five pillars of Australian Democracy which all Australians need to understand if we are to continue to enjoy the Australian way of life. CEFA is committed to ensuring that all Australians have a basic understanding of the following five pillars of our unique Australian Democracy: Pillar 1- Rule and Evolution of LawWhen Dutch sailors first sighted Australia in the seventeenth century, many thousands of indigenous Australians belonging to hundreds of groups with their own language and lifestyle inhabited this island continent. Colonial rule by Britain opened our continent to European settlement and brought British customs and law to Australia. Today, our nation is a place where who you are or what you do is less important than how you respect and abide by the rules we have chosen to live by as Australian citizens, residents or visitors. Many Australians, or their family members before them, came to this country seeking freedom, protection and opportunity. Some Australians came to this country as convict prisoners, and many as free immigrants, including those who came on passages subsidised by the British government. More recently, refugees have arrived from lands riven by conflict and persecution. The rule of law is the principle that individuals and organisations, including governments, are all subject to the same laws. In Australia, this means that people can be certain that they will receive the same treatment regardless of who they are, whether or not English is their first language, no matter which part of the country they live in, and regardless of their ethnic or cultural heritage. It also means that those who choose to come to Australia agree to abide by the system of law that prevails in Australia. The rules or laws which keep order in our community can be made by parliaments or by judges. ‘Parliament’ is an old French word, adapted to English, which originally meant ‘to speak’— as in ‘parler’ and ‘parley’. Around seven hundred years ago this word began to be used to describe the various assemblages of the clergy, courtiers, delegates and other advisers of the great lords of France and England with their sovereigns to discuss matters of importance. Today the word ‘parliament’ has come to mean the group of people who meet to decide how a country or a state should be run. In a democracy those people are elected representatives. The majority of the first European settlers who came to Australia beginning in 1788 came from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and brought British ideas on how things should be organised. Indigenous Australians — Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders — who have lived in Australia for thousands of years, had developed different but effective ways of deciding how the group, clan or tribe would work. Australia and many other countries (such as Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Malaysia and Jamaica) grew to maturity and eventual independence under the auspices of the British Empire. They all have parliamentary systems very similar to that of the United Kingdom. This is called the Westminster system of government, because the Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom are located in Westminster in the heart of London. The Australian Constitution The Australian Constitution has properly been described as ‘the birth certificate of the nation’. It also provides the basic rules for the government of Australia. Indeed, the Constitution is the fundamental law of Australia, binding everybody including the Commonwealth Parliament and the Parliaments of the states. Accordingly, any action, including legislative action, is invalid if it is contrary to the Constitution. Background of the Constitution The Australian Constitution was passed as part of a British Act of Parliament in 1900, and took effect on 1 January 1901. A British Act was necessary as Australia comprised six separate self-governing British colonies before 1901, and ultimate power over each of those colonies rested with the British Parliament. But the British Government wanted to encourage moves in the Australian colonies in the nineteenth century towards co-operation and federation (see Pillar Three ‘Federalism’ below); and so the document which became the Australian Constitution was drawn up in Australia after extensive discussion and debate, and approved by referenda held in the separate Australian colonies before being sent to London to be enacted. The Constitution was drafted at a series of conventions held during the 1890s and attended by representatives of the Colonies. Before the Constitution came into effect, its terms were approved by the people of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and Tasmania and the people of Western Australia soon followed. Therefore, since the end of the nineteenth century Australia has been an independent nation. The character of the Constitution as the fundamental law of Australia rests predominantly not on its status as an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which can no longer exercise power over Australia, but on the Australian people’s decision to approve and be bound by the terms of the Constitution. The Australian Constitution is the single most important document in Australia’s history. It created the Commonwealth and bound the colonies together as States of the Commonwealth, thus making Australia one nation. The Constitution is not simply a document of fundamental historical significance. It is also a document of continuing and critical importance to contemporary Australian society. It can be changed but only by reference to the will of the people. Any changes must be carried by a national majority of voters and by a majority of the states. The Constitution remains the legal and political foundation on which our nation is built and functions. Think of any political issue currently dominating the media, and there is a good chance that a proper understanding of that issue will turn on a proper understanding of what is in the Constitution. Despite its contemporary relevance, popular appreciation of the Constitution remains at a low level. Several surveys suggest that as many as one of every two Australians is unaware that Australia has a written Constitution, and many Australians know more about the American Constitution than the Australian Constitution. This is a cause for concern, because without greater knowledge of the Constitution and the system of government it establishes, it is difficult for people to participate fully in the civic and political life of Australia. — See “Australia’s Constitution”, Australian Government Solicitor and Parliamentary Education Office, Canberra, parts IV and V. “Constitutions are codes of rules which aspire to regulate the allocation of functions, powers and duties among the various agencies and offices of government, and define the relationships between these and the public.” — Professor Samuel Finer, Professor of Government, University of Manchester, 1979. “Defining a national Constitution is not a simple exercise. A Constitution may be viewed as both a process, as a description of what actually takes place in the running of a national government, and as a stated and assumed expectancy that may vary to a greater or lesser degree from the actual practices of governing authorities.” — Robert Maddox, Constitutions of the World, 1995. “Constitutions are like footy rules, they tell us how the game is played, who the umpire is, how many players are on the field and how to score. However, the way the game is played, the way the captains tell the players how to play and what the spectators do on the sidelines are up for grabs.” — Anonymous. “A Constitution is a set of rules or laws, agreed to by all involved in a particular activity, which tells people or groups of people what they can and can’t do. Almost all organised groups have some type of Constitution which says what the group can do and how it can do it.” — Brian McNamara, How Australiais Governed, 1999. Pillar 2- Parliamentary DemocracyThe Australian system of government is based on the traditions of the Westminster system and described as a “Constitutional Monarchy”. There are three branches of our democratic tree. Each is important and no one branch dominates the others in the Commonwealth of Australia. They are: 1. The executive branch, which consists of the Sovereign (since 1952 Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia) represented by the Governor-General, together with the elected Government comprising the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. In addition, it includes all the public servants and people who work for government departments and agencies. 2. The legislative branch is required to meet during each year. It is the two Houses of Parliament (the Senate and the House of Representatives), with members who have been elected by millions of adult Australians at free elections, meeting to discuss the proposals and the actions of Government, and to make laws, as the expression of our democracy. 3. The judicial branch, based on the English legal heritage, plays the role of umpire. From the High Court of Australia to State or Territory courts, judges and judicial officers help us to determine how the law works and what our rights and responsibilities are. The Constitution of Australia required the building of a new Australian capital city in its own capital territory; the capital city is Canberra. The Commonwealth Government:
Under section 1 of the Constitution the legislative power of the Commonwealth is ‘vested in a Federal Parliament, which shall consist of the Queen, (represented by the Australian Governor-General), a Senate and a House of Representatives…’. The first parliament met in Melbourne on 9 May 1901, and the first meeting in Canberra took place on 9 May 1927. The Queen opened the building of the new and permanent Parliament House in Canberra on 9 May 1988. Section 2 of the Constitution provides for the appointment of a Governor-General by the Queen: and according to the established convention (see below), the Queen appoints the Governor-General to his or her office on the recommendation of the Australian Prime Minister. From 1901 to 1931 Governors-General were British-born. The first Australian-born Governor-General was Sir Isaac Isaacs (1931-36); and the last Governor-General who was a citizen of the United Kingdom was Lord De L’Isle (1961-65). The words of the Constitution state that the Governor-General holds extensive powers. But in practice, as governed by the established constitutional convention (see below), s/he acts on the advice of the Prime Minister. Rare exceptions to the rule (when the Governor-General uses the “reserve powers” of the Crown, according to his/her own discretion and understanding of a particular situation) have occurred in times of political crisis. It is a mark of the stability of Australia’s democratic system that very few crises of that magnitude have befallen this country. The current Australian Governor-General is Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC. She is Australia's first female Governor-General and 25th Governor-General for Australia.
In the quotations from the Constitution in the two preceding paragraphs, the word ‘Queen’ is used, because the Constitution refers to ‘the Queen’, not ‘the King’. Queen Victoria was on the British throne on 1 January 1901, when the Constitution came into effect. After her death on 22 January 1901 there was a succession of kings. However, on 6 February 1952 the present monarch ascended the throne. Since then Queen Elizabeth the Second, as the Sovereign, has been the symbolic head of state of Australia, while the Governor-General has been the executive head of state as established by the Constitution to exercise the powers of the Sovereign. The first Australian Prime Minister was Sir Edmund Barton (1901-1903). The Current Australian Prime Minister is The Hon. Julia Gillard who is our 27th Prime Minister. She came to office on 24th of June 2010 to become the first Australian Female Prime Minister. Under the Constitution a great many conventions are assumed, rather than explicitly stated. Thus the office of Governor-General is mentioned many times, as are the institution of the Federal Executive Council and the office of Minister of State. However, the office of the Prime Minister is nowhere mentioned, nor is the Cabinet, or the office of Leader of the Loyal Opposition. It is also a crucial convention of parliamentary government that a Prime Minister and other Ministers commissioned by the Governor-General to form a government must have the confidence of the House of Representatives, and must resign their commissions if they lose that confidence; but that is not stated in words anywhere in the Constitution. The legislative power of the Commonwealth Parliament is strictly limited to the matters explicitly given to it by the Constitution; set out in section 51 of the Constitution. The House of Representatives has 148 members elected from all states and territories. The Senate, consisting of 76 members, was intended to protect the smaller states from the numerical dominance of the larger states in the House of Representatives. The Senate has no special control over administration or over foreign affairs. The role of interpreting the Constitution is, under chapter III of the Constitution, reserved to the High Court. The first sitting of the High Court took place in Melbourne on 6 October 1903. The first bench comprised three of the men who had been prominent in the federal movement, namely the Chief Justice Sir Samuel Griffith and the justices Edmund Barton and Richard Edward O’Connor. The Court continued to comprise only three justices until 1906, when its number was increased to five. In 1912 an additional two justices were appointed, but during 1933, as a result of the Great Depression, the number was reduced to six. The Court was restored to its present number of seven justices in 1946. The High Court was located in Melbourne or Sydney until the new and permanent High Court House was opened in Canberra on 26 May 1980. The broad pattern of state and territory governments, as in all countries governed according to the rules and conventions of the ‘Westminster system’, is that they are appointed by the Crown’s representative, and are responsible to lower houses of parliaments popularly elected by universal adult franchise. The powers exercised by the states are all those not granted to the Commonwealth by the federal Constitution. Each state has its own state Constitution, established by an Act or Acts of its Parliament; and while there are differences in detail, the broad pattern is uniform. Except for Tasmania, the Constitution of each state makes a general grant of power to make laws for the peace, welfare and good government of the state. In all bicameral state parliaments the upper house is known as the Legislative Council. The legislature in all states was bicameral until 1922, when the Queensland parliament became unicameral upon the abolition of the Legislative Council. In New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, the lower house is known as the Legislative Assembly. In South Australia and Tasmania it is known as the House of Assembly. In the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory the single house is known as the Legislative Assembly. The extent of the legislative powers of each state parliament is defined by the Constitution Act of the state in question. In the territories, the powers are defined by the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 and the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988, each being a statute of the Commonwealth Parliament. In those states which have a bicameral legislature, the lower house is the larger. In most states, upper-house members are elected by proportional representation and lower-house members by single-member electorates. Pillar 3- Federalism Modern Australia was destined for Federation. Geography and our history as six colonies of Great Britain probably meant that Australia would end up a Federation of different political groupings within one country. Unlike Europe or the Russian Empire, Australia was populated along the coast, with very few major centres of population inland. The British Empire of the 1850’s, conscious of the power of Prussia and Russia, and fearful of France resuming significant power, was well aware that the six colonies could not easily defend or develop this island continent in separation from one another. There were customs barriers between one colony and the next, most notably along the Murray River between New South Wales and Victoria, because of the differing economic policies pursued by the separate colonial parliaments and governments. The railway systems of the colonies were developed with differing track gauges (4ft 8½ inch “standard” gauge in New South Wales, 3 feet 6 inch gauge in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, and 5 feet 3 inch gauge in Victoria); and so you could not travel easily by train from Sydney to either Melbourne or Adelaide, because of the need to change trains at the border. Five important reasons why Federation was achieved include: Businesses growing across colonial boundaries Workers travelling from one colony to another to find work and land Banks such as the National Bank of Australasia or the Bank of New South Wales had started to operate across boundaries Unionised workers were concerned about cheap labour from countries like China, Japan, or the islands of the Pacific Germany controlled New Guinea, Holland controlled what is now Indonesia, and America was beginning to be a power in the Pacific.
Before 1901, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania were self-governing colonies, each one with its own constitution, parliament, executive and judicial system. At federation, these colonies became states of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900, the Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which brought the Commonwealth into existence, begins with nine sections which are commonly called the ‘covering clauses’. Section 9 of the Act is the section which contains the full text of the Constitution, after the introductory words, ‘The Constitution of the Commonwealth shall be as follows ...’ As provided by the final section of the Constitution (Chapter VIII, Section 128), the Constitution can be changed only by the method of referendum to the voters which is set out in that section. Any change must first be enacted as a ‘proposed law’ by the Commonwealth Parliament, and then submitted as a ‘proposed law’ to the electors qualified to vote in the election of members of the House of representatives. If in a majority of the states a majority of the electors voting approve the proposed law, and if a majority of all the electors voting approve the proposed law, it shall be presented to the Governor-General for the Queen’s assent. The Movement Towards Federation: The federation of the Australian colonies was first seriously suggested in 1847 by Earl Grey, Secretary of State for the Colonies. At that time it was seen as an arrangement that would benefit Britain, which would relinquish part of its administrative responsibility for the colonies. It was also seen as a benefit to the colonies, since they would gain in efficiency and economy by acting together on issues of mutual concern. Although a bill to establish federation sponsored by Earl Grey was passed in the Westminster House of Commons in 1850 it was never enacted. Several other attempts to arouse interest in federation in the 1850s including the establishment of select committees in New South Wales and Victoria to examine areas of possible cooperation came to nothing. The failure of these early attempts at federation were due to a variety of factors, the most important of which was the lack of any external physical threat to the colonies, the difficulty of maintaining effective communications between them and their consequent separate development, and their very different socioeconomic conditions and needs. By the 1880s and 1890s these factors had changed. First, the growing encroachments of the European powers in the Pacific, culminating in the German annexation of part of New Guinea in 1884, removed the complacency over defence. This was brought home at the first colonial conference in London in 1887, when it became clear to Australians that they would have to rely on their own resources for defence. Second, transport and communications improved. With the expansion of the railways in the 1880s regular travel between the colonies became feasible for the first time while the introduction of the telegraph in the 1870s linked major towns and cities. Several new factors were also important. The labour movement which emerged in the 1880s to agitate for improved working conditions tended to think in national rather than colonial terms and this underpinned the logic of federation. The fear of Asian immigration and an influx of cheap labour reducing Australian standards of living was another new element. These fears first emerged in the 1850s when large numbers of Chinese arrived to work on the goldfields. In response the colonies introduced measures to limit or halt Asian immigration: Victoria introduced measures in 1855, while legislation was passed in South Australia in 1857, New South Wales in 1861 and Queensland in 1877. In 1880 Sir Henry Parkes called an intercolonial conference to discuss the problem. The outcome was agreement between all the colonies except Western Australia on a common policy to restrict Asian immigration. Western Australia fell into line in 1886. The issue was kept alive by the intercolonial conferences of 1888 and 1896 which emphasised the necessity of cooperation between the colonies to halt Asian immigration. The movement towards federation gathered strength again in 1880 when Sir Henry Parkes proposed the establishment of an advisory federal council to discuss areas of mutual concern and this new body came into existence in 1885. Conferences in 1891, 1893 and 1895 discussed federation, and even drafted an enabling bill which passed through all the colonies except Queensland. As a result of the 1895 conference, elections were held on 4 March 1897 in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania to elect representatives to a convention. Western Australia was represented at the Adelaide/Sydney/Melbourne convention but its members were not popularly elected; they were chosen by the Western Australian parliament. In Queensland, deep seated differences as to how the colony should be represented resulted in no Queensland delegates attending. The convention met in Adelaide on 22 March 1897 and adopted a draft bill to enact federation on 23 April 1897. The convention then adjourned to permit discussions within the colonies on the proposals. The convention reassembled to discuss the proposed amendments in Sydney from 2 to 24 September 1897. Adjournment to Melbourne for the final stage of the debate took place on 20 January 1898. After nearly two more months of meeting at Melbourne's Parliament House, the final draft bill was agreed to on 16 March 1898. Although a majority in New South Wales voted in favour a separate provision in that colony dictated that at least 80,000 affirmative votes were required to pass the proposal, and this was not achieved. A subsequent election in New South Wales resulted in an amendment to this clause. The new referenda were held in 1899, taking place on 29 April in South Australia, 20 June in New South Wales, 27 July in Victoria and Tasmania, and 2 September in Queensland. The results produced a majority in favour of federation in all the colonies except for Western Australia which agreed to federation in a separate referendum on 31 July 1900. The bill to enact federation passed through the Westminster parliament with a minimum of amendment and received the royal assent on 9 July 1900. It was proclaimed by Queen Victoria on 17 September 1900 that the Commonwealth of Australia would come into being on 1 January 1901. Pillar 4- Rights and Responsibilities (Including the Ten CEFA Civics Values) Australia does not have a “Bill of Rights”. No such provisions were put into the Constitution in 1901. There is currently a national debate on the issue of whether to codify our rights and responsibilities through an Act of Parliament of the kind known as a “Bill of Rights”. Whether or not a formal Bill of Rights (of some kind and by whatever name) is put to the people of Australia in a referendum there is an unwritten code implicit in any effective representative democracy. That unwritten code is the values that are held in common by all people of goodwill living in that democracy. Many names, definitions and subheadings can be applied to the general subject of ‘values’. For the sake of organisation for the purposes of curriculum resource development and public programs CEFA has identified those common values under ten headings with brief explanatory notes. The Ten CEFA Civics Values (adapted from the federal government’s Values for Australian Schooling initiative): (1) Care, Compassion, Fair Go: Care for others not just self; pursue & protect the common good; treat all people fairly for a just society. (2) Doing Your Best: Seek to accomplish something worthy & admirable; try hard; pursue excellence; exercise vision, hope and optimism. (3) Freedom: Enjoy all the rights & privileges of Australian citizenship free from unnecessary interference or control; stand up for the rights of others; recognise the challenges of maintaining an open, fair and representative democracy; be prepared to defend those privileges. (4) Honesty, Integrity & Trustworthiness: Be honest & sincere; honour agreements; act in accordance with principles of moral & ethical conduct; ensure consistency between words & deeds; & expect the same of others. (5) Remembering: Learn the key turning points of Australian and world history; honour the efforts & sacrifices of those who have preceded us. (6) Respect: Treat others with consideration & regard; respect another person’s point of view; be aware of & honour the roles & sincere efforts of those who serve in public office. (7) Responsibility: Be accountable for your own actions; resolve differences in constructive, nonviolent & lawful ways; contribute to society & civic life; take care of the environment. (8) Understanding, Tolerance & Inclusion: Be sensitive to others & their cultures; accept diversity within a democratic society; adopt a spirit of inclusion not exclusion. (9) Informed judgment: Be thoughtful & knowledgeable about all sides of each argument or issue in local, national & international current affairs; value your vote by making thoughtful, considered choices before attending the polling booth.
(10) Health, Wellbeing & Safety: Make the best available health & lifestyle choices; exercise & nourish mind & body; take appropriate precautions to protect life, health & property at home, on the road & other daily pursuits. Pillar 5- Traditions and the primacy of the English Language Australia’s demography is changing, and therefore, what an Australian looks like and sounds like is also changing, rapidly. No longer can the term ‘Australian’ be confined to those with long-standing residence, or with particular kinds of 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 — although one’s personal idea of an Australian may include any and all of these.
What is the essential, definable quality that truly makes one an Australian? It is a willingness to unite under the democratic system of law and government that fosters and protects this 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. These differences are to be celebrated. Yet, consistent with a common set of laws that apply equally to all, there is one more essential for a functioning, cohesive society: a common language. The essential systems of law and government in Australia are conducted primarily in the English language. This is not a matter of bias, rather of pragmatism based on hundreds of years of tradition, structure and application of the Westminster system by which means Australia has progressed as a tolerant and robust democracy. Analogy: when a modern computer system with one set of machines and its various software applications tries to communicate with another system that uses a different language or code its normally fast and effective communication tends to break down or at least become slower and less effective. Computer engineers understand that to integrate one or more systems requires a common language or interface. Application: Australia can accommodate every law-abiding citizen or visitor, and every honourable tradition, from every part of the world. In fact Australians come from almost every country in the world — around 200 countries — and some 200 languages, including 45 indigenous languages, are spoken here. With such diversity, the common link, the only possible effective interface is the most common and traditional language, English.
CEFA Initiatives for Educating for Democracy CEFA has been progressively developing a series of projects which educate Australians about each of the pillars of Australian Democracy. CEFA's established projects CEFA School Parliaments.
This project, which began with a pilot scheme in 2005, aims to educate primary and secondary school students about the parliamentary process by involving students in mock parliaments. They provide an opportunity to learn about the structure of legislatures, improve public-speaking skills, leadership, teamwork, and voting education processes. Governor-General’s Undergraduate Essay Competition.
This project, established in 2004, aims to challenge university students by offering the opportunity to extend their understanding of Pillar 3 - Constitutional Heritage — through independent research into a legal, historical or philosophical subject relevant to the principles and ideas that underpin Australian Democracy, and to investigate the practical relevance of such ideas, whilst improving oral and written expression skills. The 2010 competition judging was chaired by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, The Hon. Chief Justice Robert French AC.
Each of the above programs has been tested and refined over several years and is being expanded progressively.
CEFA's newer projects AusCivics Film Festivals.
Through a partnership with the Australian Electoral Commission and a number of other Australian institutions, several hundred AusCivics Film festivals across the nation launched in September 2010 and will be launched again in May 2011 and run each year thereafter, commencing in the outback town of Broken Hill. The Festivals are aimed at engaging upper primary and high school students with a broader awareness of the link between the Australian Constitution and our unique, safe and privileged Australian way of life. Each annual festival will also aim to consolidate young Australians' commitment to the values of each of the Five Pillars. At the core of the festivals will be inspiring Australian films, feature films and short films - new films each year - which help focus young minds on the importance of our shared values and our democratic heritage. The National Civics Prize, including the Governor-General's National Film Prize.
This is a parallel activity with AusCivics Film Festivals. While the festivals will be concentrated in one season annually the National Civics Prize will run year round, launching into 2011 from the platform of the 2010 festivals. Each prize season and each prize activity will be linked to one or more of the Five Pillars. The 'language' of teens is movies, music, games, texting, fashion, brands, sports, social networking sites, etc. This is also the 'language' of the National Civics Prize, linking civics messages and knowledge with fun, adventure, travel, sports, etc; making civics cool by association and reaching the key youth audience 'where they live'. While the tone will be fun the learning outcomes are serious. Each of CEFA's projects has at the core the goal of civics education and engagement, consistent with CEFA's mission and national and state curriculum outcomes. CEFA is putting in place substantial measuring tools to help identify national and local trends towards increased engagement in and knowledge of the Australian Constitution.
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