Civics in Australia

The Australian Human Rights Commission (Commission) has made a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, responding to the inquiry into civics education, engagement and participation in Australia.

Political participation

This principle of participatory decision-making is an overarching principle of human rights law, and one of the mechanisms for eliminating discrimination and marginalisation.

Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) recognises and protects the right of citizens to take part in the conduct of public affairs, the right to vote and to be elected, and the right to have access to public service.

In its proposed model for a Human Rights Act, the Commission introduces a participation duty as a means to realising key procedural elements of other rights proposed to be contained in the Human Rights Act.

Education and engagement 

Education is ‘both a human right in itself and an indispensable means of realizing other human rights’. It is fundamental to ensuring the realisation of individual potential, the full enjoyment of other human rights, and the active engagement of citizens in a democratic society.

The right to education is recognised in a range of international human rights instruments, and ‘considerable evidence supports the right to education as a norm of international customary law based on the universality of treaty provisions’.

Civics education seeks to advance individuals’ ‘meaningful engagement with and participation in the community, civil society and politics’. It commonly encompasses teaching on democracy and democratic processes, government and politics, and legal systems. It can also extend to include teaching on Indigenous history, international law, and human rights.

Civics education plays a vital role in healthy democracies, by generating higher levels of political knowledge, facilitating political expression and informed debate, and encouraging public participation by engaged citizens.

Recommendations

The Commission has made 14 recommendations ranging from civics education to the impact of AI in democratic processes. To learn more, please read the full submission.