Laws and Crime

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Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | Year 10

An understanding of the Civics and Citizenship concepts is developed through a focus on Australia’s democracy and legal system. The teaching ideas in this resource assist students to gain knowledge and understanding of how Australia’s legal system aims to provide justice, through the rule of law. Links to curriculum codes: AC9HC7K03 / VC2HC8K05

An understanding of the Civics and Citizenship concepts is developed through a focus on Australia’s laws, the responsibilities and freedoms of citizens and participation in the democratic process. The teaching ideas in this resource assist students to gain knowledge and understanding of the types of law in Australia including criminal law, civil law, and the place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law. Links to curriculum codes: AC9HC8K03 / VC2HC8K07 & AC9HC8K04 / VC2HC8K08

An understanding of the Civics and Citizenship concepts is developed through a focus on how Australia’s legal system works to support a democratic and just society. The teaching ideas in this resource assist students to gain knowledge and understanding regarding the key principles of Australia’s justice system, including equity before the law, independent judiciary, right to appeal and the factors that can undermine the application of the principles of justice. Links to curriculum codes: AC9HC9K04 / VC2HC10K05

An understanding of the Civics and Citizenship concepts is developed through a focus on Australia’s global roles and responsibilities and the values and practices that enable a resilient democracy to be sustained. The teaching ideas in this resource assist students to gain knowledge and understanding regarding the safeguards that protect Australia’s democratic system and society. Links to curriculum code: AC9HC10K01 / VC2HC10K03

Introduction

We support the view that schooling should develop a sense of community engagement in students by increasing their potential to be informed, responsible, ethical and active participants in society.

Through practical tasks relating to real life experiences, these free resources help students develop a positive attitude towards their role in society. They enable teachers to select lesson ideas within a theme in any order, to best suit curriculum requirements and the interest of students.

Digital resources embedded in these resources comply with the Social Media Minimum Age obligation (SMMA obligation) and have been chosen with careful consideration to support learning and wellbeing. Some resources feature YouTube videos that can be seen without logging into an account. These should be viewed by students with teacher support.

We developed these to make the compulsory content of the Australian Curriculum Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) Civics and Citizenship syllabus for Years 7-10 more engaging.

To make things easy, lesson ideas link directly to the Australian and Victorian content codes and key concepts, namely, Democratic Values, The Westminster System, Justice, Participation, and Rights and Responsibilities. The activities provided are just suggestions and should be adjusted to suit the student cohort.

Learning Intentions

Resource Focus

Community safety and wellbeing is enhanced when individuals understand the law and take action to prevent crime.

This resource provides students in years 7-10 with the opportunity to explore how Australia’s democracy, and other democracies, may be undermined, and identify the safeguards that protect Australia’s democratic system. They explore the types of laws and how laws are made within the Westminster system and describe the rights and responsibilities of participants in the process.

Students Understand:

The principles of The Rule of Law
That laws are based on values, beliefs and society norms
The historical basis of our Westminster system
The categories of laws and crime in Australia
How to interpret crime statistics and the way the media reports crime
How statute laws are developed

Lesson Ideas

The Rule Of Law Origin Of Our Legal System Making Laws Types Of Laws ‘Unusual’ Laws Investigating Crime Statistics Reporting Crime

Further Student Enquiry

Visit The Law Society of Western Australia Education Resources website for school visits to courts and further education resources
Students develop their own question to investigate Making a Law. The Parliamentary Education Office provides some useful information for students.

Assessment

Formative:

Students write their own definitions and examples of criminal and civil law.
Students explain why, as good citizens, people should report criminal crimes through Crime Stoppers
Hold a class discussion about crimes in the news. Organise the students into pairs. Ask students to research and discuss the types of crimes that are prevalent in the media. Explain that each pair will select two media articles focusing on crimes and complete the Law in the Media

Summative:

Many of the activities in the lesson ideas can be used for summative assessment
Students present, in an appropriate format, their views on how our legal system both protects citizens and requires them to be active participants
Students present, in an appropriate format, their understanding of the process of law making in Australia
Students present, in an appropriate format, their understanding of how the Rule of Law seeks to provide justice for Australian citizens
Students present, in an appropriate format, their understanding of how the Rule of law provides safeguards that protect Australia’s democratic process