Yrs 5-8: Rights and Responsibilities
What are they and how are they connected?
Rights and Responsibilities: What are they and how are they connected?
In Australia, we enjoy many rights and freedoms. We can go to school, travel to other states for holidays, have access to clean water to drink and play with friends. Your parents also have rights and freedoms like being able to live without discrimination, being paid fairly for the work they do, being married if they choose, starting a family or following religious practices.
Rights
A right is something that is so important that it is protected by a law or society’s expectations.
In a democracy like Australia, many of our rights provide the freedom for citizens to be involved in the running of the country and include the right to vote, the right to speak freely, the right to protest and the right to be elected as a member of parliament. We also have other rights that allow us to live freely such as the right to go to school, the right to own property, the right to choose who we wish to marry etc. One of the most important rights we have is that all people are to be treated equally.
These rights give the people of Australia the ability to choose how they want to live, and to be able to do so without discrimination. However, where we have rights, we also have responsibilities.
Responsibilities
A responsibility is a duty or obligation to act in a certain way.
When we exercise our rights, we must also consider how our rights might impact other people’s rights. We have a responsibility to ensure that other people can also exercise their rights.
Where there is a right, there is always a corresponding responsibility.
If people only focused on their rights and ignored their responsibilities, it would lead to chaos and harm. Only some people’s rights would be protected and that would not lead to a fair and equal society.
Think about this scenario
As an 11-year-old in Australia, you have the right to an education. Each State and Territory in Australia has a law that says school attendance is compulsory from the age of six. This is supported by international laws in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
You go to your local primary school where every other 11-year-old in your suburb goes, as they all have the same right to education as you do.
Imagine you are in class and one student called Hermione sits in the front row and insists that the teacher only talks to her and only teaches the things that Hermione enjoys. Hermione gets to answer all the questions, does all the science experiments and artworks she wants, and the music class only plays the flute because Hermione won’t play anything else.
She tells the teacher that it is her right to have an education and this means she gets to learn what she wants to learn, when she wants to, regardless of what other students want or need.
What should the teacher say?
Hermione is right, she does have the right to education, but so does every other person in her class. Hermione has the responsibility to ensure that she does not stop others from receiving an education. This might mean she has the responsibility to let other people do the science experiments, or she may need to sit quietly whilst other people ask and answer questions.
The Government and Community also have a responsibility to ensure Hermione and the whole class can enjoy the right to education. This includes the responsibility to provide schools, equipment and teachers so that education can happen.
Classroom Resources
Yrs 9-10: Rights and Responsibilities
What are they and how are they connected?
In Australia, we enjoy many rights and freedoms that are a normal part of everyday democratic life. We can seek legal recourse if we are not paid fairly for the work we do, live without discrimination, be married if we choose and to whomever we choose, can start a family, and follow the religious practices of our choice.
But what is a right in comparison to a responsibility and how are they connected?
Rights
Rights are entitlements individuals hold that are protected by law or morality.
They can be:
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- Positive – the entitlement to do or have something
- Negative – the entitlement to be free from something (sometimes called ‘freedoms’)
- Individual – belonging to the person
- Collective – belonging to a certain group
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In a democracy, many rights entitle citizens to be involved in the running of the country, including the right to vote, the right to speak freely, the right to protest and the right to be elected as a member of parliament. We also have other rights that allow us to live freely, such as the right to education, the right to own property and the right to be treated equally.
These rights give us the ability to choose how we want to live, and to do so without discrimination. However, where we have rights, we also have responsibilities.
Responsibilities
A responsibility is a duty or obligation to act in a certain way and is governed by law or morality.
They can be:
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- Positive – the duty to do specific, identified things.
- Negative – the duty not to do something.
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When we exercise our rights, we must also consider how enjoying our rights might impact on other people’s access to their rights. We have a responsibility to ensure that other people can exercise their rights equally. We have an individual and collective responsibility to ensure that people act in ways that respect the rights of other people, fostering safe and respectful communities.
Rights are not absolute and there are times when the government also has a responsibility to introduce (and enforce) laws that limit certain rights to protect other rights and prevent violations.
Example: The Right to Freedom of Speech
Freedom of speech is a fundamental human right. It includes the freedom of thought, the freedom of receiving and giving information, freedom of conscience and freedom of expression. Importantly, it includes the right to express your opinion and explore different perspectives even when other people, including those in power, may disagree. In Australia, freedom of speech is an inherent right protected by common law. In international law, the right to freedom of opinion and expression is protected by articles 19 and 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Freedom of speech also has responsibilities. While we have the right to speak freely, we must exercise this right responsibly, respecting others’ rights and refraining from limiting other human rights (such as the right to privacy, the right to be free of discrimination or the right to feel safe). At an individual level, this can be achieved by respecting the right of others to have their opinion and views, even if they differ from your own.
In a democracy, the government also has a collective responsibility regarding freedom of speech. The government must ensure citizens are free to express their thoughts, debate ideas and highlight issues regarding those in power.
The Government may also, at times, limit and restrict freedom of speech to protect other human rights. They do this by creating laws that can regulate serious abuses which are then administered by the Courts. For example, the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) makes it unlawful to “do an act reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or group if the act is done because of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of the person or group”.
The Government also has a responsibility to ensure these laws are enforced.
Classroom Resources
