CEFA is delighted to announce the official launch of The Parliamentary Club 2007 pilot program for Australian schools. Teachers from schools in New South Wales and Queensland came to CEFA's Sydney headquarters today to participate in training run jointly by CEFA and Don Perna from St Joseph's High School at Albion Park, NSW.

The Parliamentary Club has been running successfully at St. Joseph's for three years [see case study].  In a further development, the St. Joseph's Parliamentary Club is introducing compulsory voting this year.

The following schools participated in this week's pilot launch:

Dubbo College, Delroy
Corpus Christi, Oak Flats
Calrossy Girls School, Tamworth
Mount Carmel, Varroville
Gilroy College, Castle Hill
Grace Lutheran College, Queenland
St. Mary's, Wollongong
St Joseph's High School, Albion Park

The Parliamentary Club is an initiative designed to change the nature of civics education and student leadership in Australian schools. Participating schools run their own school parliaments modelled on the Australian Federal Parliament, convene elections (often run by the Australian Electoral Commission) and establish committees and inquiries into topics and issues affecting them.

"It is a whole-of-school involvement program," says Mrs Kerry Jones, Executive Director of CEFA.

"We are very excited by the Parliamentary Club being introduced to so many Australian schools. It is about engaging our Australian youth in our parliamentary democracy, our heritage and history, our values, our rule of law, our rights and responsibilities, our system of government."

"If we look at past events in our world history, whether for human progress or human disasters, each will reflect a nation’s engagement in the civics of the time."

"By actively connecting young Australians to their democratic heritage, we are making sure of a new generation of informed, knowledgeable and civics conscious people.”

Contact CEFA to have your school included in this pioneering civics education initiative or to receive more information about the project.