Civics and Citizenship in the NSW Curriculum
New South Wales K-6 HSIE Syllabus released on 24 July 2024.
The New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA) has released the final version of the Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE) Syllabus for students in years K-6 that is scheduled for full implementation and teaching by 2027.
Since November last year, there have been 2 Draft Syllabuses released by NESA, in which the Rule of Law Education Centre has provided detailed feedback and suggestions for improvements that would increase the civic knowledge of our young citizens. Of particular importance to the Rule of Law Education Centre was the inclusion of explicit learning about the role of the law and legal system as key elements of Australian civic education as well as an understanding of the active participation that is required in a democracy.
We considered that the History syllabus needed explicit and sequenced opportunities throughout the curriculum to allow NSW students to develop an understanding and trust in our democratic principles.
Summary
In response to the final K-6 HSIE Syllabus, Sally Layson, CEO of Rule of Law Education Centre has said;
“I am pleased that NESA has positively responded to our feedback and increased the amount of civics and citizenship content within the curriculum. Even though we would like to see more content, NESA has improved the explicit content on our system of government and laws that have formed the basis of our liberties and freedoms we enjoy in Australia today.
It will be interesting to see if the High School Syllabus incorporates our feedback with compulsory content that uses explicit terms such as separation of powers and independent judiciary. Even though they have not been included in the K-6 Syllabus, we hope there is compulsory material highlighting some of the key moments in our legal history from 1788 such as the first civil case and the establishment of the NSW Supreme Court that provide a historical understanding of Australia’s democratic beliefs that have shaped our free, democratic and egalitarian country.”
Justine Hanks, Education Manager of the Rule of Law Education Centre has said,
“When we undertake court experiences with Legal Studies students, many have limited knowledge about the role of courts. NESA has missed an opportunity to give primary students a basic understanding of our court system, starting a learning journey that can be built on over time.
Youth crime is rising across NSW. To create change, all young people need to be taught about the justice system. The age of criminal responsibility is 10, yet we are not explicitly teaching young students anything about the court system until high school, if at all.”
Why is it important there is Civics Content in the NSW History Curriculum?
Civics and Citizenship principles that should be included in the Curriculum
The minimum (core) aspects of Civics and Citizenship education to develop informed and active citizens were agreed to by all the States and Territories of Australia in 2003 in the Statement of Learning for Civics and Citizenship. It includes content in the areas of Government and Law, Citizenship in Democracy and Historical Perspectives of the past on Australian society today.
There are different elements to civic education as outlined in the diagram below. Critically there need to be explicit teaching, exploration of ideas and Situated/Experiential leaning as basis for active citizenry.
Specific, compulsory civics and citizenship content within the NSW Curriculum
All States and Territories of Australia, except NSW, teach Civics and Citizenship aligned with the National Curriculum as a standalone civics and citizenship subject or strand. In NSW, the NSW Education Standards Authority incorporates most of its compulsory and explicit teaching in civics and citizenship within the ‘study of history’.
The current NSW History curriculum introduced in 2012 aimed to ‘develop the critical skills of historical inquiry and to enable students to participate as active, informed and responsible citizens’. Sadly, it contained no mandatory, comprehensive, discrete or explicit aspects of civics and citizenship education. (see the Rule of Law Education Centre Report, ‘The State of Civics in NSW’)
This is the first revision of the syllabus since 2012 and represents an opportunity for the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) to increase the presence of civics education in NSW schools by incorporating key concepts of governance and law in the compulsory subject of History. Without a dedicated civics subject, inclusion in History of civic knowledge is pivotal given that all NSW students undertake History across their primary and junior and middle high school years.
Review of the K-6 HSIE Syllabus
The final K-6 HSIE Syllabus has as one of its aims to provide ‘knowledge and understanding of Australia’s democracy to become active, informed members of their community’ and has taken some significant steps to include key civics and citizenship concepts within Stage 3 of the HSIE Curriculum (with hopefully more compulsory and explicit content to be included in the High School History Syllabus.)
Explicit Content
Students in Stages 1 and 2 are encouraged to be ‘active citizens’ through volunteering and participation in community life. There is no reference in these Stages to the impact of government and laws on their citizenship ie regarding voting, following the law, holding the government accountable etc.
Students in Stage 3 are given multiple opportunities to learn about the features of Australia’s democratic system of government and to be active citizens through voting, campaigning etc. The basics of the rule of law, with a footnote to the Magna Carta are also included. This is a vast improvement to the current HSIE K-6 Syllabus. 
In particular, we note with great disappointment that there is sparse reference to laws, the role of laws in protecting rights, the Separation of Powers, the independence of the judiciary, and the role of Courts in the final iteration of this Syllabus. Using the simplified explanation of the rule of law also misses an opportunity to bring in those principles that are necessary for the rule of law to operate such as an independent judiciary, fair trial, free press, checks and balances etc
This means that NSW Primary Students are provided with no explicit opportunity within the curriculum to learn about these concepts until they are in High School.
This is a significant omission that would have helped Australian students understand and trust the foundations of our legal system in NSW that provide justice, stability and peace in our community.
How would the NSW Curriculum stack up with a Civics Audit?
The 2024 Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Inquiry into civics education, engagement and participation in Australia received 119 submissions. Many suggested an audit of the civics and citizenship teaching and learning in schools.
It would be expected that if an audit was done on the NSW HSIE Curriculum against the minimum standard of content as agreed in the Statement of Learning for Civics and Citizenship Education in Australia, then the NSW History Curriculum would be found lacking.
Exploration of Ideas
“A society that supports the rule of law is not one composed of uncritical and obedient citizens; rather it is one whose citizens understand the respect just laws, are aware of their function, know how to engage with them constructively and how to challenge them, as needed, within the appropriate mechanisms and institutions.” – United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Civics and Citizenship Education is more than learning to be obedient, patriotic citizens who know democratic facts and follow the law. This type of education is more suited to an authoritarian nation with a quasi-democracy!
Civics and Citizenship education must reflect the democratic principles of the society, which have their basis in the laws of Australia and have been outlined by the Australian Government as Parliamentary Democracy, The Rule of Law, Living Peacefully and Respect for all individuals regardless of background.
Civics Education in a democracy with the Rule of Law requires students to know that democracy is more than the basics of voting.
They need a legal perspective to see how a successful democracy is a system of government for the people, with laws and checks and balances to protect the rights of everybody in society. It requires students who can critically think and respectfully discuss different opinions and importantly, be equipped to recognise threats to human rights, the rule of law and democracy in their current situation and provide them with the tools to take appropriate steps to address those threats.
This area of Civics and Citizenship is missing in the NSW History Curriculum.
Equipping the Teachers with Civic and Citizenship Training
The teaching of Civics and Citizenship is linked to the skills of teachers in the classroom. This is a significant issue as many teachers who have graduated since 2004 will have poor civic knowledge themselves as they have not been taught it at school or during their teacher training.
Having civic knowledge must also be supplemented with enthusiasm and motivation to advocate for civics and citizenship.
Teachers with little civic knowledge will need extensive training to adequately teach this new material. Given the systemic lack of civic knowledge, this should be for all teachers so they can be confident to incorporate civic discourse within their teaching and own personal lives.
“The big question is whether Prue Car will also step up to look after teachers and provide for explicit and knowledge-rich training via a dedicated unit in civics education as part of their degree” – Sally Layson, CEO
In October 2024, when Hon Prue Car as Minister for Education and Early Learning releases her annual Statement of Expectations (which outlines the priorities for the NESA Board) the below priority should be included to support this additional civics content in the NSW Curriculum:
“Priority – improve outcomes for civic and citizenship proficiency in NSW
Since 2024, we improved the representation of Civics and Citizenship content of more than 60 new or amended syllabuses. This work will continue through the curriculum reform process.
All teacher education graduates in NSW must now complete a dedicated unit in Civics and citizenship education as part of their degree through our revised Professional Development Policy.”
Recommendations based upon the drafts released for NSW Primary HSIE
| Recommendations by the Rule of Law Education Centre | Comments regarding the Final Syllabus |
| Recommendations on Version 1 Draft Curriculum (October 2023) | |
| History Syllabus needs to contain sufficient elaborations and compulsory material to enable students to be active and informed citizens | The final syllabus does not contain the basic (minimum) content of Civics and Citizenship as agreed in the Statement of Learning for Civics and Citizenship by all of the States and Territories of Australia in 2003. |
| Explicit teaching and terminology incorporated consistently throughout stages K-10 | Civics content for K-6 such as Government and Laws is only included at one point at Stage 3. It is not sequenced nor sufficiently developed throughout the primary syllabus and only addressed in stage 3. |
| Key Terms and Specific Terminology: Parliamentary democracy, rule of law, constitution, referendum, division of powers, separation of powers, Magna Carta | The K-6 HSIE Curriculum uses simplified language rather than explicit terms. The terms parliament, constitution and democracy are expressly included. The Division of Powers is alluded to with the 3 levels of government. The rule of law is simplified as ‘all people are equal before the law and must obey laws’ with a footnote to the Magna Carta. An independent judiciary and separation of powers is not included in the Curriculum. It may be included as part of the discussion around the purpose of the Constitution or equality before the law. |
| Recommendations on Version 2 Draft Curriculum (March 2024) | |
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Outcomes in Stage 2 to include Civics Content. Examples given such as “research the role of the Courts in protecting convict’s rights, using source documents such as evidence..” or “explain the purpose of laws and what happens when people break the law.”
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No civics and outcomes or content included in Stage 1 or 2. Both stages 1 and 2 include content relating to active citizenship, volunteering and participating in communities. No mention about citizenship involving following the law, voting, holding the government to account etc. No civic content on Government and laws is included in Stage 1 and 2 |
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Outcome in Stage 3 to include an understanding of Australia’s legal system within the Outcome description ie describes the origins and features of Australia’s democratic system of government and its legal system
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Outcome State 3 HS3-DEM-01 has been updated to include laws: Describes the origins and features of Australia’s democratic system of government and laws, |
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Additional content in Stage 2, 3 and 5 regarding laws and the courts. Recommendation to includes explicit terms such as independent judiciary and historical examples in the penal colony before 1825 such as the First Civil cases in the colony or the establishment of the Supreme Court by the NSW Act 1823 (UK).
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Stage 3 includes some legal content such as ‘Describe origin of principle that all people are equal before the law and must obey laws’, and ‘Describe how bills are passed through Federal Parliament to make a law.’ No explicit content in Stage 3 about separation of powers and an independent judiciary, our system of laws. Stage 2 has no content about government and laws. Even though the penal colony is discussed, no discussion of the legal and political structures established during this period. |
Advocacy for Curriculum Changes
The Rule of Law Education has provided feedback and submissions on the Australian and New South Wales Curriculums. We believe that democracy and the key principles that underline our system of government such as equality, fairness and justice must be deliberately and intentionally taught to every generation of Australians. Intentionality ensures each generation has sufficient knowledge, understanding, skills and values required to maintain a constitutional, liberal democracy.
Our Rule of Law Wheel states ‘the rule of law must be supported by informed and active citizens.’ As a result our submissions regarding the curriculum consider, from a rule of law perspective, whether Australian students are being equipped with adequate knowledge so can they be active, informed, responsible and engaged citizens and undertake their civic duties to ensure the stability of the Australian community going forward.
A copy of our most recent submissions for NSW are:
Submissions for the New South Wales Curriculum Review:
NSW Commerce Curriculum
- Rule of Law Submission on Commerce 7 – 10 Draft Syllabus for Have your Say Period March – April 2024 released on 11 March 2024
NSW History Curriculum
- Rule of Law Submission on Version 2 History Stages 1-5 Draft Syllabus made on 05 March 2024
- Rule of Law Submission on Version 1 History Stages 1-5 Draft Syllabus made on 11 September 2023
