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Topic 4 – Responsible government spending

This topic explores responsible government spending and how tax money is allocated.

Last updated 27 February 2020

Topic 4 – Responsible government spending. The tax system redistributes income to ensure everyone is provided for. Governments spend taxpayers’ money responsibly to benefit the community. Tax spending gives all citizens a fair go.

Overview

Tax talk

  • The tax system redistributes income to ensure everyone is provided for.
  • Governments spend taxpayers’ money responsibly to benefit the community.
  • Tax spending gives all citizens a fair go.

Lesson intention

In this topic, students:

  • explore how tax money is allocated
  • construct and interpret graphical representations
  • explain why the federal government redistributes income
  • collaboratively provide and justify a mathematical solution to an unfair situation
  • create and justify a budget to fund community services
  • create a scaled map of an ideal community
  • consider safety, health and wellbeing in their community designs.

Focus questions

  • Where does tax money go?
  • How does tax spending give citizens a ‘fair go’?
  • What is responsible spending in our community?

Activities

  1. Introduction – if I was Prime Minister...
  2. Tax spending – class discussion
  3. Social security and welfare – the distribution game
  4. Redistributing income – finding fair solutions
  5. Creating our ideal community – group planning
  6. Reflection – promoting environmental quality

Resources

Some resources are available as both a PDF and as accessible text. If a resource does not have a text version and you need an accessible version, email us at schoolseducationprogram@ato.gov.au.

Topic 4 resources

Australian Curriculum Connections

Content

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • HASS
  • HPE

General capabilities

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • ICT
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Ethical Understanding

Curriculum mapping

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Introduction – if I was Prime Minister...

  1. Brainstorm issues that have been in the news regarding government spending. (Allow time for students to read news articles).
  2. Explain to the class that the government led by the Prime Minister has the responsibility of deciding where taxpayer money will be spent in the coming year.
  3. Provide students with the sentence starter ‘If I was Prime Minister, I would spend money on... because...’
  4. Begin with an example:      
    • If I was Prime Minister, I would spend money on education because children need to learn knowledge and skills which will help them in the future.
     
  5. One-by-one, invite all students to complete a sentence.

Teacher tip

Refer students to the services recorded on the Level of government chart from Topic 2 or remind them of the Kahoot quiz they completed.

  1. Ask:      
    • Did you find it easy or challenging to justify your spending decision? Why?
    • Were any of our ideas related? Which ones and how were they related?
    • How did you feel about only putting forward one idea?
    • What do you think could happen if the community did not like the government’s spending decision?
     

Tax spending – class discussion

  1. Discuss:      
    • Why should citizens pay tax?
    • How does tax work for you?
     
  2. Display ‘Where tax money is spent’ pie chart on a whiteboard or screen (Resource 1: where taxpayer’s money is spent (text version) or PDF (72KB)This link will download a file). Discuss what each spending category means.
  3. Ask:      
    • Where is most taxpayer money spent? (Social security and welfare)
    • Besides ‘Other purposes’ on what items were the second and third most amount of money spent? (Health and Education)
    • Why do you think these items are important?
    • How does the pie chart compare with your ideas about where money would be spent if you were the Prime Minister?
     

Social security and welfare – the distribution game

This activity may contribute to student portfolios.

  1. Ask:      
    • Why do you think the federal government spends the largest proportion of its revenue on social security and welfare?
     
  2. Explain that in this activity you will distribute the ‘Wealth of Bilby’ among students. This wealth is represented by 100 one-dollar coins.
  3. Put 100 one-dollar coins at the front of the classroom (Resource 2 – PDF, 64KBThis link will download a file)
  4. Hand out the first 21 numbered wealth cards (Resource 3 – PDF, 235KBThis link will download a file).
  5. Give remaining students a Kiandra or Burnie card.

Teacher tip

This game is designed for a class of between 21 and 30 students – It may have to be adjusted to suit smaller or larger classes.

  1. Invite students to collect the number of coins indicated on their character card.
  2. After all the coins have been collected, ask:      
    • How did you feel about the way in which the coins were distributed?
    • Were you treated fairly? Explain.
     
  3. Individual students complete the ‘Distribution of wealth worksheet’ – Resource 4: distribution of wealth worksheet (text version) or PDF (83KB)This link will download a file
  4. Ask:      
    • Which is the largest group?
    • Which is the smallest group?
    • Which group has the largest share of wealth?
    • How do you think Kiandra and Burnie will be able to meet their basic needs if they have no money?
    • How are people with low wealth going to meet their needs?
     
  5. Invite students to reflect on the following:      
    • Does everyone have the right to basic needs?
    • Is having your needs met important for you to be happy?
    • How much should the wealthy help the poor?
     

Teacher tip

Answers to the distribution of wealth are in Resource 5: distribution of wealth – answers (text version) or PDF (81KB)This link will download a file

Redistributing income – finding fair solutions

  1. Community Planning Groups decide on their plan for the fair redistribution of coins. Each group should:      
    • describe what the group plans to do and why.
    • show why their plan is fair.
     
  2. Groups share their plans.
  3. Discuss:      
    • Why the redistribution of income is fair (or not)?
     

Creating our ideal community – group planning

This activity may contribute to student portfolios.

  1. Display the pie graph of government spending on services that promote safety, health, and wellbeing – Resource 6: spending on safety, health and wellbeing (text version) or PDF (62KB)This link will download a file.
  2. Discuss how and why each category listed on the chart supports safety, health and wellbeing.
  3. Discuss reasons why the government allocates a large portion of its budget (37%) to improving people’s safety, health and wellbeing.
  4. Community planning groups allocate roles for this task and:        

Reflection – promoting environmental quality

  1. Community Planning Groups consider the following question:      
    • How will your plan affect environmental quality?
     

Teacher tip

The reflection activity could be extended to support students to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between people, places and environments.

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Text versions of resources

The following are accessible text versions of resources for Years 5–6, Topic 4 – Responsible government spending:

We do not have accessible text versions for all resources. If a resource does not have a text version and you need an accessible version, email us at schoolseducationprogram@ato.gov.au.

For a complete list of this topic’s resources, see Resources.

Resource 1: where taxpayer’s money is spent

This resource is for Years 5–6, Topic 4 – Responsible government spending, activity titled Tax spending – class discussion.

Along with this accessible version, which you can either print or use online, we also have the same resource available as a PDF – Resource 1: where taxpayer’s money is spent (PDF, 72KB)This link will download a file.

Where tax money is spent

Category

% of budget

Health

16%

Housing and community amenities

1%

Agriculture, forestry and fishing

1%

Transport and communication

1%

Education

7%

Fuel and energy

1%

Mining, manufacturing and construction

1%

Public order and safety

1%

Defence

6%

Recreation and culture

1%

Social security and welfare

36%

General public services

5%

Housing and community amenities

1%

Other purposes

22%

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Resource 4: distribution of wealth worksheet

This resource is for Years 5–6, Topic 4 – Responsible government spending, activity titled Social security and welfare – the distribution game.

Along with this accessible version, which you can either print or use online, we also have the same resource available as a PDF – Resource 4: distribution of wealth worksheet (PDF, 83KB)This link will download a file.

How wealth in Bilby is distributed

  1. Collect and record data on how wealth in Bilby is distributed. The following table might help.
Distribution of wealth worksheet

Character

Number of cards

Number of coins for each

Total number of coins

Ernabella

 

 

 

Darwin

 

 

 

Callington

 

 

 

Diamantina

 

 

 

Indigo

 

 

 

Leonora

 

 

 

Jervis

 

 

 

Kiandra

 

 

 

Burnie

 

 

 

Total wealth

-

-

 

Optional

To extend your thinking, add the category of gender to your data set.

  1. Use a table to organise data into the following categories:    
    • Great wealth – those with more than 11 coins
    • Some wealth – those with 5-8 coins
    • Little wealth – those with 1 or 2 coins
    • No wealth – those with no coins.
     
  2. Show how the wealth of Bilby is shared by constructing both a table and a graph or graphs. Your displays should show:    
    • The number of people in each wealth category
    • The total wealth of people in each wealth category
    • A breakdown of gender for each wealth category (if you included this in Question 1)
     
  3. If possible, use a software program to create your displays. Choose appropriate displays (table and graph types) for the data.
  4. What do your data displays tell you about how wealth is shared in Bilby? Refer to both the size of the population in each wealth category and the amount of wealth these people share. If possible, draw conclusions about differences in how wealth is distributed between males and females.

Optional

  1. What graph/s did you choose to represent this data and why?
  2. What other graphs could you use to represent the same information? Construct this graph.
  3. Which of the two is clearer?

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Resource 5: distribution of wealth – answers

This resource is for Years 5–6, Topic 4 – Responsible government spending, activity titled Social security and welfare – the distribution game.

Along with this accessible version, which you can either print or use online, we also have the same resource available as a PDF – Resource 5: distribution of wealth – answers (PDF, 81KB)This link will download a file.

These are the answers for Resource 4: distribution of wealth worksheet.

How wealth was distributed

Character

Number of cards

Number of coins for each

Total number of coins

Ernabella

1

12

12

Darwin

2

11

22

Callington

2

8

16

Diamantina

4

7

28

Indigo

1

5

5

Leonora

6

2

12

Jervis

5

1

5

Kiandra

3

0

0

Burnie

1

0

0

Total wealth

-

-

$100

Note that this answer sheet is based on a class of 25 students – answers will vary depending on the number of students.

How Bilby’s wealth is shared

Wealth category

Total number of characters

Male

Female

Total amount of money

Great wealth
(those with eleven or more coins)

3

2

1

34

Some wealth
(those with five to eight coins)

7

2

5

49

Little wealth
(those with 1 or two coins)

11

5

6

17

No wealth
(those with no coins)

4

1

3

0

Total

25

10

15

100

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Resource 6: Spending on safety, health and wellbeing

This resource is for Years 5–6, Topic 4 – Responsible government spending, activity titled Creating our ideal community – group planning.

Along with this accessible version, which you can either print or use online, we also have the same resource available as a PDF – Resource 6: spending on safety, health and wellbeing (PDF, 62KB)This link will download a file.

Government spending on services that promote safety, health and wellbeing

Category

% of budget

Health

14%

General public services

5%

Public order and safety

1%

Defence

6%

Housing and community amenities

1%

Transport and communication

2%

Recreation and culture

1%

Education

7%

All other categories

63%

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Resource 7: creating our ideal community – part 4

This resource is for Years 5–6, Topic 4 – Responsible government spending, activity titled Creating our ideal community – group planning.

Along with this accessible version, which you can either print or use online, we also have the same resource available as a PDF – Resource 7: creating our ideal community – part 4 (PDF, 92KB)This link will download a file

Research

  1. In your groups, research how the spaces and places in communities can be designed to promote community safety, health and wellbeing.
  2. Using findings from your research identify services or amenities that will:    
    • encourage physical activity
    • help people feel connected
    • support people
    • make it easy to get around
    • let people relax or be entertained
    • connect people to the environment
    • keep people healthy
    • keep people safe
    • support community members to learn.
     
  3. Analyse a range of maps of communities (including digital and satellite images) to explore:    
    • where people live, work, learn, play and shop
    • location of services that help to keep people safe
    • types and location of community services
    • size and location of green spaces in the community
    • types and location of recreation facilities
    • transport networks
    • the distance between landmarks such as the distance between people and their work, how close parks are to houses, houses to schools, houses to recreation facilities, houses to shops, houses to refuse tips etc.
     
  4. Decide on the following:    
    • where people in your ideal community will live, work, play, learn and shop
    • the services your ideal community will provide to support safety, health and wellbeing
    • the location of these services so they are accessible
    • how people will get to the places they need to go.
     
  5. A town planner is requesting further information before your plan is approved. Each member of your team is to answer the following:    
    • How will your community plan support physical activity?
    • Describe how participation in physical activity contributes to health and wellbeing.
    • How will your proposal support happiness?
     

Revisit the list of public and private goods you listed in Your ideal community – Part 2 from Topic 2. Considering your research on supporting community safety, health and wellbeing, rewrite the list of services your community will provide:

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Resource 8: creating our ideal community – part 5

This resource is for Years 5–6, Topic 4 – Responsible government spending, activity titled Creating our ideal community – group planning.

Along with this accessible version, which you can either print or use online, we also have the same resource available as a PDF – Resource 8: creating our ideal community – part 5 (PDF, 73KB)This link will download a file.

Community budget

Look at your public services and resources in part 4.

Sort these into the relevant budget category below.

Work out what percentage of your total funding will be spent on each category. Explain your decisions

Community budget worksheet

Budget category

Public service/resource

% of budget

Why

Health services

 

 

 

Education

 

 

 

Recreation

 

 

 

The Arts

 

 

 

Public buildings and services

 

 

 

Transport

 

 

 

Communication

 

 

 

Environment

 

 

 

Public safety

 

 

 

Other

 

 

 

Individually rank these budget categories in order of importance.

Explain your ranking.

Draw or use a computer to create a pie chart showing the proportion of the budget spent on each category.

What categories would you like to have allocated more funds to?

Why is this not possible?

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