Activity Introduction

srf_y9_humanrightsforallphotoframeQuick summary: In this Finding Out lesson, students explore the concept of justice using the ‘Chalk-Talk’ visible thinking routine. They will consider the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and dive deep into Article 14 of the Convention to better understand rights associated with the legal system. They will create and display an educational presentation about people’s legal rights. Students will extend their understanding about the right to appeal by reading and interpreting a set of case studies featuring appeals that have reached the High Court of Australia. Students will then reflect on their understanding of the content covered in the lesson using the ‘I used to think…now I think’ visible thinking routine.

Essential questions:

  • What is equality before the law?
  • What recourse is available to people who believe that their rights and freedoms have not been upheld by the judicial system?
  • What is an appeal?

21st Century skills:

Creative Thinking Critical Thinking Ethical Understanding

Australian Curriculum Mapping

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) 
  • Account for different interpretations and points of view (ACHCS085) 
  • Recognise and consider multiple perspectives and ambiguities, and use strategies to negotiate and resolve contentious issues (ACHCS086) 

General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking and Ethical Understanding 

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. They compare and account for different interpretations and points of view on civics and citizenship issues.

Topic: Human Rights

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

Time required: 180 mins.

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – facilitate class discussion.

Resources required: Student Worksheet – one copy per student. Device capable of audio/visual presentation to present a website to the class. Web-enabled devices for students to share. Chalk-Talk Prompts (printed, one set per group). Australian Court System factsheet, Article 14 of the ICCPR (both printed, one per student). “Chamberlain v. The Queen (1983) 153 CLR 521” section of the Right to Appeal Case Study (specific section printed, one per student). A3 paper (two sheets per group).

Keywords: rights, freedoms, court, justice, appeal.

Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.

Worksheets

Teacher Worksheet

srf_y9_equalitytriangle_photoframeTeacher preparation

Overarching learning goal: Students will have a greater understanding of the right to equality before the law. They will understand the concept of justice and how the courts work to achieve it. Students will read and understand Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and understand how it acts to ensure that people are treated equally before the law. Students will understand the right to appeal and the role of the High Court in the appeal process.

Teacher content information:

Many countries have special protections for human rights in their domestic law. Some, like Canada and the USA, have a Bill of Rights as part of their Constitution which means that these rights are very strongly protected (because it is very difficult to alter the Constitution). However, Australia does not have a Bill of Rights and there is no single law that broadly protects human rights in Australia. Rather our human rights are protected by a variety of differ

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Student Worksheet

Thought starter: A convicted person may appeal against the conviction.

1. Create a presentation that details the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in particular Article 14, and why it is important for the protection of rights and freedoms.

Article 14 of the ICCPR

Some ideas of what you could create include:

Before starting, think about the following:

  • Research: What else do we need to know about the topic before we educate others about it?
  • Plan: How will we present the information in an organised and engaging way?
  • Create: Who will be responsible for each element of the project? What extra resources do we require and how can we access them?
  • Disseminate: How will we ensure that other people can see our present
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