Civics and citizenship
Topics: 2004 and earlier:
Knowledge about government and citizenship, 2003
Results from a national survey, 2002/2003
The IEA Civic Education Study, 2001
Australian youth involvement in political process, 1999
Youth Round Table 2004
The National Youth Roundtable brings together 50 young people aged 15 to 24, to meet with government in order to discuss issues that affect their generation. Roundtable members undertake a series of consultations with their peers across Australia to develop a comprehensive picture of the views and attitudes of young people, which are reported back to the government. The National Youth Roundtable was established by the Australian government in 1999 to give young people the opportunity to speak directly with the government about issues important to them.In 2004, the Youth Roundtable is investigating the following topics:
- communities
- cultural diversity
- environment/rural matters
- health
- leadership and enterprise development
- participation
Reports from the 2003 National Youth Roundtable cover educating Australians, lifestyles, rural issues, cultural identities, transitions to independence, $$$, services and support and health. They are published at The Source web site.
Source: The Source web site.
Back to top
Knowledge about government and citizenship, 2003
Of 800 young people aged 12 to 15 who were surveyed in 2003:
- 50% were taught about citizenship at school;
- 85% thought that they should have been taught about it;
- less than 55% knew that Australia is a democracy (some thought it could not be a democracy because it was not a republic);
- nearly 90% wanted to participate in decisions that affected their lives;
- 13% believed that governments were responsive to the views of young people.
These figures come from a Youth and Citizenship study conducted for the National Youth Affairs Research Scheme.
Although the survey took place when the invasion of Iraq dominated news coverage, international politics ranked second-last in importance to respondents. Education, relationships, employment, money and youth suicide were all rated as being very important. Last on the list (rated as being important to 15% of respondents) was the economy.
Young people reported feeling greatly affected by decisions made by educational institutions and families. Entertainment and news media were rated as having a greater effect on their lives than decisions made by any tier of government.
Just under 40% of respondents rated their family as being 'very trustworthy' sources of information about politics, followed by teachers (14%), friends (9%), politicians (4%) and the media (2.5%).
Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 21/08/04, p.25 and Australian, 20/08/04, p.2.
Results from a national survey, 2002/2003
Government decisions affecting young people
The proportion of who felt affected a great deal by decisions made by:
• State/Territory Government 49.1%
• Australian Federal Government 46.8%
• Local Government 32.1%
Governments' response to young people
Percent of 687 young people and 68 Indigenous young people surveyed who either agreed or strongly agreed that governments were responsive to the views of young people:
General sample 12%
Indigenous sample 30.9%
Society's attitude towards young people's views
Percent of 687 young people and 68 Indigenous young people surveyed who either agreed or strongly agreed that society increasingly values the views of young Australians:
General sample 36.9%
Indigenous sample 50.0%
Young people participating in influencing politics and government
Percent of 687 young people and 68 Indigenous young people surveyed who either agreed or strongly agreed that they wanted the opportunity to participate in making decisions about issues that affect their lives:
General sample 88.8%
Indigenous sample 74.7%
Is Australia a democracy?
Percent of 687 young people and 68 Indigenous young people surveyed who either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement 'Australia is a democratic country':
General sample less than 55%
Indigenous sample less than 44%
Citizenship education
The proportion of 687 young people surveyed who felt that students should be taught about the following at school:
• Australia's legal and political system 91.7%
• Citizenship 84.8%
The proportion of 687 young people surveyed who had been taught about citizenship at school:
• 52.2%
Young people's influence on decisions made by government
The proportion of 687 young people surveyed who felt they had the power to greatly affect decisions made by the following institutions:
• Local Government 4.7%
• Australian Federal Government 3.2%
• State/Territory Government 1.8%
Young people's political participation
The proportion of 687 young people surveyed who had participated in the following activities:
• Petitions 74.2%
• Through community groups 72.1%
• Student representative bodies 69.4%
• Youth rep panels/organisations 64.6%
• Street protest 56.6%
The proportion of 687 young people surveyed who thought the following activities were very effective:
• Voting in elections 34.8%
• Youth rep panels/organisations 30.4%
• Student representative bodies 28.4%
• Through community groups 19.7%
• Consumer action 17.2%
The proportion of 687 young people surveyed who thought the following activities were not all effective:
• Writing to politicians 22.3%
• Through the arts 20.4%
• Calling talkback radio 18.5%
• Consumer action 17.2%
• Street protest 13.4%
Whom young people trust for political information
Of 687 young people surveyed, the following proportions thought that these institutions were very trustworthy and somewhat trustworthy sources of accurate information about politics:
| Very trustworthy | Somewhat trustworthy | |
| Teachers | 13.6% | 61.4% |
| Family | 16.1% | 57.1% |
| Friends | 7.1% | 46.6% |
| Media | 2.5% | 33.8% |
| Politicians | 3.9% | 29.7% |
Whom young Indigenous people trust for political information
Of 68 young Indigenous people surveyed, the following proportions thought that these institutions were very trustworthy and somewhat trustworthy sources of accurate information about politics:
| Very trustworthy | Somewhat trustworthy | |
| Teachers | 69.1% | 22.1% |
| Family | 37.3% | 43.3% |
| Friends | 23.9% | 34.3% |
| Media | 10.4% | 26.9% |
| Politicians | 7.5% | 35.8% |
Source: Manning, B. & Ryan, R.2004, Youth and citizenship: A report for NYARS, National Youth Affairs Research Scheme, Canberra. Available in pdf format [viewed 29/11/2006]: Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA)
The IEA Civic Education Study, 2001
The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) conducted surveys of over 3,000 students, 400 teachers and 150 schools throughout Australia in 1999. Internationally, 90,000 students were surveyed. ACER and the University of Canberra were funded by the Commonwealth Government to organise Australian participation in the international study.
The Australian National report, Citizenship and Democracy: Students' Knowledge and Beliefs -- Australian fourteen year olds and the IEA Civic Education Study, can be downloaded from the ACER web site.
Highlights of Australian Findings
Australian Students' Civic Knowledge:- 2% of the Australian students correctly answered every question, with almost 25% having sufficient civic knowledge for a 65% chance that they could correctly answer all the civic knowledge items.
- 10% could not answer any of the 38 cognitive items correctly.
- Australian students showed a substantially greater facility with the Interpretative Skills items than they did with the Content Knowledge items. This appears to reflect the emphasis given in Australian schools to the close reading of, and inference from, texts.
- Only half of the Australian students have a grasp of the essential pre-conditions for a properly working democracy -- it seems that Australian students are not strong in their understandings of what constitute their civil rights.
- The Civic Knowledge items with which Australian students had the most difficulty were those which deal with the forms and purposes of Democracy.
- Australian students have a strong sense of 'natural justice' and equity, but they lack clarity about the theoretical precepts of democratic models and structures.
- 60% successfully inferred the consequences of a large publisher buying up many of a nation's newspapers.
- Australian students do not have a strong grasp of the impact of economic issues in the functioning of a democratic system, nor do they have a clear sense of where the inherent tensions between democratic ideals and economic exigencies lie.
- Preferred source of information:
- Television news: 80% -- about two-thirds also read about what is happening in this country and in other countries in the newspapers.
- News on the radio: 62%
Source: Mellor, S., Kennedy, K., and Greenwood, L. (2001) Citizenship and Democracy: Students' Knowledge and Beliefs -- Australian fourteen year olds and the IEA Civic Education Study. Department of Education, Science and Training, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra: Australian Council for Educational Research
Back to top
Australian youth involvement in political process, 1999
Television news only: 80%
... and newspapers: 66%
... and radio: 62%
Percentage of students who had 'a grasp of the essential pre-conditions of a properly working democracy': about 50%
... who believed it important to join in a peaceful protest against an unjust law: over 50%
... who were prepared to join a non-violent protest march: 40%
Proportion of students who had participated in a school council: one-third
Expected participation in political activities (all below the international mean):
... do not expect to join a political party: 89%
... do not expect to write letters to the editor about a political/social issue: 76%
... do not expect to be a candidate for local office: 87%
Research conducted in 1999 in 28 countries, to compare young people's engagement in the political process, showed Australian students to be less involved than those overseas. The Australian Council for Educational Research and the University of Canberra undertook the research, which involved over 3,000 14-year-old students, 400 teachers and 150 schools throughout Australia, and 90,000 students internationally.
Back to top