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Topic 1 – Community rights and responsibilities

This primary school resource focuses on establishing strong foundations for learning about tax and super.

Last updated 27 February 2020

This primary school resource focuses on teaching values and actions to help establish strong foundations for learning about tax and super.

Overview

Tax talk

  • Australian governments are duty bearers and protect our rights and freedoms.
  • We have responsibilities to protect people’s rights.

Learning intention

In this topic, students:

  • understand the rights, responsibilities and values which exist in a democratic system
  • understand the responsibilities that come with rights
  • recognise themselves as both rights holders and duty bearers
  • understand the primary duty bearer is the state or government.

Focus questions

  • What is a democracy and why is it important?
  • What values underpin Australian communities?
  • What are our rights and responsibilities as Australians?
  • Who protects our rights?

Activities

  1. Introduction – setting the scene
  2. Rights and responsibilities – think-pair-share
  3. What is democracy? – video stimulus  
  4. Rights and responsibilities – sorting game
  5. Rights holders and duty bearers – class brainstorming
  6. Extension – how laws are made
  7. Creating our ideal community – group planning
  8. Reflection – how did I do?

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 1 resources

Australian Curriculum Connections

Content

  • HASS
  • HPE
  • English

General capabilities

  • Literacy
  • ICT
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding

Curriculum Mapping

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Introduction – setting the scene

  1. Explain to students that they will be working towards designing an ideal Australian community. Over the course of the unit, they will work on different aspects of their community design.
  2. Display the unit visualiser, which details aspects of the community design they will be developing in each topic of the unit – Resource 1: unit visualiser (text version) or PDF (83KB)This link will download a file:    
    • Topic 1 – Community profile and charter
    • Topic 2 – A list of public and private resources and services provided in your community.
    • Topic 3 – How members of your community will be taxed to pay for services.
    • Topic 4 – How your community will support safety, health and wellbeing. Your community budget and scaled map showing the location of facilities and services.
    • Topic 5 – Community jingle promoting superannuation.
    • Topic 6 – Community vision and marketing material.
     

Teacher tip

If teachers elect to remove topics from the suite in this unit, remember to remove these topics from the list shared with students.

  1. Organise students into groups of three or four. Explain that these groups will work as a team to design a community throughout the unit of learning (referred to in this resource as Community Planning Group).
  2. Give each team a set of six team role cards (Resource 2 – PDF, 103KBThis link will download a file).
  3. Explain that throughout the unit:      
    • Their team will choose and allocate the roles that are necessary for each task.
    • Each member of the group must have a role at all times.
    • Roles may change from one activity to the next.
     
  4. Explain that in this activity, each group will brainstorm how they will work as a collaborative team and will be asked to share their responses with the class.
  5. Invite groups to share their responses and allow teams to make changes to their role descriptions or their team rules.

Rights and responsibilities – think-pair-share

  1. What’s a right? What’s a responsibility?
    Think – 30 seconds = Think individually
    Pair – 1 Minute = Discuss in a pair
    Share – 5 minutes = Share ideas with the class.
  2. Record student responses on chart paper to display.

What is democracy? – video stimulus

This activity may contribute to student portfolios.

  1. Give students the graphic organiser – Resource 4: graphic organiser for video (text version) or PDF (96KB)This link will download a file – to guide them as they view the video: ‘What is Democracy?External Link’

Teacher tip

Students may need to view the video more than once in order to answer all questions.

  1. Discuss the answers with students (Resource 5: graphic organiser for video answer sheet (text version) or PDF (86KB)This link will download a file).
  2. Record the values that underpin Australia’s democracy on chart paper under the heading: Values of Australia’s democracy.
  3. Explain to students that there are other values that underpin Australia’s democracy. These are:      
    • freedom of election and being elected
    • freedom of assembly and political participation
    • basic human rights.
     
  4. Add these to the list of values on the chart paper.
  5. Brainstorm what basic human rights might include (for example, food and water).
  6. Add these to the chart paper under the heading 'Human Rights'.
  7. For each value, students explain why they are important and how they protect human rights.

Values of Australia's democracy

  • The freedom to express our views without getting into trouble.
  • Equal rights for people from all different backgrounds.
  • The right to justice and a fair and independent trial.

Rights and responsibilities – sorting game

This activity may contribute to student portfolios.

  1. Use a grouping strategy to organise students into pairs or groups of three and give them a set of the rights and responsibilities cards (Resource 6 – PDF, 118KBThis link will download a file).
  2. Students categorise the cards into rights, responsibilities or both using a Venn diagram.

Teacher tip

String or skipping ropes can be used to make the Venn Diagram.

  1. As a class, come to consensus on how the cards should be categorised. Record answers on a Venn diagram.
  2. Students select at least three rights from the list and use their own words to phrase them as personal responsibilities.

Rights holders and duty bearers – class brainstorming

  1. Explain the following:      
    • Rights are universal – everyone in Australia is a right holder.
    • Duty bearers have a responsibility to protect and fulfil people’s rights.
    • Responsibilities (such as those they identified in the previous activity, make students duty bearers and that they contribute to protecting people’s rights.
    • The primary duty bearer in Australia is the ‘state’ or government.
     
  2. Select three rights from the Venn diagram and brainstorm the ways that governments might protect and fulfil these rights.

Extension – how laws are made

  1. Explore how laws are made in Australia – View the video ‘Passing a Bill - Mission 1: Conquering the House of Representatives’External Link.
  2. Use the BTN discussion questions (PDF, 367KB)This link will download a file to reinforce student understanding.

Creating our ideal community – group planning

This activity may contribute to student portfolios.

  1. Organise students into their Community Planning Groups.
  2. Groups decide on which roles they will need to complete the task and allocate a role to each group member.
  3. Groups conduct online research to inform the details about their ideal community (Resource 7 – PDF, 93KBThis link will download a file). Each group will decide on their community’s:      
    • name
    • profile
    • needs
    • values
    • Charter of rights and responsibilities.
     

Reflection – how did I do?

  1. Ask:      
    • What group role do you think you would be best at? Why?
    • How well did you keep to your own role?
    • Were any roles easier/harder than others?
     

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Text versions of resources

The following are accessible text versions of resources for Years 5–6, Topic 1 – Community rights and responsibilities:

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: unit visualiser

The following are accessible text versions of resources for Years 5–6, Topic 1 – Community rights and responsibilities, activity titled Introduction – setting the scene.

Community design in each topic

Aspects of community design to be developing in each topic:

  • Topic 1 – community profile and charter
  • Topic 2 – a list of public and private resources and services provided in your community
  • Topic 3 – how members of your community will be taxed to pay for services.
  • Topic 4    
    • How your community will support safety, health and wellbeing.
    • Budget and scaled map showing the location of facilities and services.
     
  • Topic 5 – community jingle or rap promoting superannuation.
  • Topic 6 – community vision and marketing material.

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Resource 3: creating our collaborative team

The following are accessible text versions of resources for Years 5–6, Topic 1 – Community rights and responsibilities, activity titled Introduction – setting the scene.

Along with this accessible version, which you can either print or use online, we also have the same resource available as a PDF – Resource 3: creating our collaborative team (PDF, 60KB)This link will download a file.

Collaborative team

  1. Describe the skills and behaviours needed for each team role and record these on the role cards. Think about what the person with this role would do and say. The role cards will be used throughout the unit of work, so they need to be stored safely.
  2. Brainstorm characteristics of successful collaborative teams.
  3. Develop a list of rules (behaviours or expectations) your team will follow to be successful and collaborative.

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Resource 4: graphic organiser for video

The following are accessible text versions of resources for Years 5–6, Topic 1 – Community rights and responsibilities, activity titled What is democracy? – video stimulus.

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: graphic organiser for video (PDF, 96KB)This link will download a file.

Questions

  1. Where did democracy begin?
  2. What is democracy? (use your own words if you can)
  3. What is the magna carta and why was it important?
  4. How does Australia’s democracy work?
  5. What are the values that form the basis of democracy in Australia?
  6. What are examples of other forms of government?
  7. Why is democracy important?

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Resource 5: graphic organiser for video answer sheet

The following are accessible text versions of resources for Years 5–6, Topic 1 – Community rights and responsibilities, activity titled What is democracy? – video stimulus.

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: graphic organiser for video answer sheet (PDF, 86KB)This link will download a file.

Questions and possible answers

  1. Where did democracy begin?
    Athens/Greece
  2. What is democracy? (use your own words if you can)
    Demos = People
    Kratos = power or rule
    Rule of the people - People have a say
  3. What is the magna carta and why was it important?
    The Magna Carta promised people very basic rights and the idea of democracy started to take hold again.
  4. How does Australia’s democracy work?
    Australia has a representative democracy. We elect a politician to represent us in parliament. Representatives voice their electorate’s views at a national level
  5. What are the values that form the basis of democracy in Australia?
    The freedom to express our views without getting into trouble.
    Equal rights for people from all different backgrounds.
    The right to justice and a fair and independent trial.
  6. What are examples of other forms of government?
    Absolute monarchy where one leader has control over the country (Saudi Arabia and Qatar)
    Dictatorship – One leader has power, but they aren’t royal and take over a country by force (North Korea and Zimbabwe)
  7. Why is democracy important?
    Best interest at heart, we can voice our opinion and have the freedom to make a difference.

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