Story of Our Rights and Freedoms - Rights, Freedoms and the Court System

Australian Curriculum content descriptions:

Year 9 Civics and Citizenship:

• The key features of Australia’s court system and how courts apply and interpret the law, resolve disputes and make law through judgements (ACHCK077) 
• The key principles of Australia’s justice system, including equality before the law, independent judiciary, and right of appeal (ACHCK078) 
• Develop, select and evaluate a range of questions to investigate Australia’s political and legal systems (ACHCS082) 
• Identify, gather and sort information and ideas from a range of sources and reference as appropriate (ACHCS083) 
• Recognise and consider multiple perspectives and ambiguities, and use strategies to negotiate and resolve contentious issues (ACHCS086) 

General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking.

Relevant parts of year 9 achievement standards: Students explain the key principles of Australia’s system of justice and analyse the role of Australia’s court system. When researching, students analyse a range of questions to investigate Australia’s political and legal systems and critically analyse information gathered from different sources for relevance and reliability. Students compare and account for different interpretations and points of view on civics and citizenship issues. They analyse ways they can be active and informed citizens in different contexts.

Unit of work: Story of Our Rights and Freedoms – Year 9.

Time required: 120 mins.

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – share background information with students and lead the class through a presentation.

• Student Worksheet – one copy per student
• Device capable of audio/visual presentation to present a website to the class
• ‘Exploring the systems that protect our Rights and Freedoms’ Presentation
• Sticky-notes
• Scissors
• Glue
• Butcher’s paper (optional)
• Web-enabled devices for students to share in groups
• UDHR articles (enough for groups of 2-3 to share), hexagonal thinking template
• A4 paper (one sheet per student)

This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:

• Collaboration
• Communication
• Problem solving

Throughout the Story of Our Rights and Freedoms lessons, students will consider Civics and Citizenship concepts through a human rights lens. They will critically assess the Australian system of government and the effect that it has on our rights and freedoms.
There is no universally accepted definition of human rights, and our understanding is continually developing. Some definitions include:

• The recognition and respect of peoples’ dignity
• A set of moral and legal guidelines that promote and protect the recognition of our values, our identity and access to an adequate standard of living
• The basic standards by which we can identify and measure inequality and fairness
• Those rights associated with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

When we talk about human rights we usually refer to principles that have been agreed upon by countries throughout the world. These rights have been set down in international agreements and form part of international law. They can also be written into the domestic law of individual countries. Human rights cover virtually every area of human life and activity. These include:

• Civil and political rights, such as freedom of speech and freedom from torture
• Economic and social rights, such as the rights to health and education
• Individual rights, including the right to a fair trial
• Collective rights, or those rights that apply to groups of people, such as the right to a healthy environment or to live on one’s ancestral land.

The UDHR is an international document that recognises the basic rights and fundamental freedoms to which all human beings are entitled. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 and marks a key milestone in the history of human rights. The Magna Carta, though limited in who it protected, was an important precursor to the UDHR.

Click here to watch a video about the Magna Carta.

You can view the entire text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the other core international human rights treaties, on the United Nation’s website or by downloading RightsApp (free from the iTunes App store).