List of recommendations

2.148The Committee recommends that the Department of Education, in consultation with the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and curriculum authorities in each state and territory, immediately commence investigating the viability of fully implementing and nationally aligning the civics and citizenship curriculum across Australia. This should be done with a view to creating a nationally mandated standalone civics and citizenship curriculum in the next version of the Australian Curriculum.

2.149The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, working through National Cabinet, annually collect data from each state and territory outlining how the civics and citizenship component of the Australian Curriculum is being implemented.

2.154The Committee recommends that within the enhanced civics and citizenship curriculum, the Australian Government mandate a minimum of 10 hours a year of civics and citizenship education for all students nationally across Years 9 and 10.

2.159The Committee recommends that the Australian Government develop a mandatory civics and citizenship course for all Year 11 and 12 students to prepare them to participate in electoral processes. Noting successful programs in some jurisdictions, a minimum of two pilot programs should commence across all states and territories by July 2026, with a view to integrating the programs in the next version of the Australian Curriculum.

2.164The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, through a standing item in National Cabinet, work with state and territory governments and teacher associations to develop and disseminate practical, high-quality and nationally aligned teacher professional development resources for the teaching of civics and citizenship to all Australian students. The new resources should be in place for the next version of the Australian Curriculum and should be reviewed and updated annually.

2.165The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, through National Cabinet, work with state and territory governments and teacher associations, to mandate civics and citizenship, and debate-based education, in all national professional development for Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) teachers.

2.169The Committee recommends that, to encourage more schools from regional, remote, and very remote areas to visit Canberra, the Australian Government announce the additional loadings to the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER) program two years in advance to assist schools in these areas to plan a visit.

2.170The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, as part of the Federal Budget process, increase the additional loadings to the PACER program to allow more schools from regional, remote and very remote areas to access trips to Canberra.

2.174The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, as part of the Federal Budget process, increase funding for the Parliamentary Education Office (PEO) at Australian Parliament House to specifically accommodate the increasing number of students visiting Canberra each year and to continue to deliver and expand digital outreach programs to students nationwide.

3.117The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work more closely with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) grassroots community organisations to develop and deliver civics education programs in community centres across Australia. These programs should be provided in accessible and culturally appropriate formats. The relevant Minister should report annually to Parliament on the progress of key actions.

3.118The Committee recommends that the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) specifically report on an annual basis on its work with CALD community organisations to co-design and disseminate culturally appropriate and accessible materials to support enrolling and voting at future federal elections. These materials should:

use a range of formats, including audio, visual, infographic and simple text that can be easily shared across social and ethnic media platforms

be translated into languages for smaller and emerging migrant groups.

3.120The Committee recommends that the AEC draw on successful models of community engagement conducted by its state and territory counterparts in engaging with CALD communities during the 2025 Federal Election, such as the NSW Electoral Commission’s Vote Talk program. The AEC should develop and implement such programs nationally for future elections.

3.123The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with CALD grassroots community organisations to train trusted members of the community as impartial ‘ambassadors’ or ‘champions’ to disseminate information about Australia’s democracy, electoral events, and voting.

3.127The Committee recommends that, in order to improve enfranchisement, the AEC be appropriately funded to ensure that polling stations in regional and remote communities provide sufficient time, advance notice and culturally appropriate resources for voters; and specifically report on an annual basis on these measures.

3.129The Committee recommends that, in order to deliver culturally appropriate and translated voter education materials for federal elections, the AEC is appropriately funded to work more closely with the Northern Territory Electoral Commission to leverage its relationships with local First Nations organisations; and specifically report on an annual basis on these measures.

3.134The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with youth organisations to explore more appropriate and appealing opportunities to engage a wider community of diverse young people in leadership programs that build understanding of democracy and active citizenship, outside of youth advisory groups.

3.135The Committee recommends that, in recognition of the need to prioritise engagement with diverse youth, the Australian Government’s Office for Youth should identify ways to increase engagement with the Australian Parliament and to support methods for incorporating diverse youth input into political policy and processes. The Office for Youth should report annually to Parliament on its progress.

4.133The Committee recommends that ACARA draw on successful international models to commence work to prioritise media and digital literacy education in the next version of the Australian Curriculum as a cross-curriculum priority.

4.135The Committee recommends that ACARA, in collaboration with universities and other academics, design media literacy tools for the next version of the Australian Curriculum to support students’ critical information processing that are adaptable to a changing online environment.

4.138The Committee recommends that, further to Recommendation 5, ACARA collaborate with state and territory education authorities and teacher associations to develop guidance, resources and tools that support the delivery of education on media and digital literacy. This should cover social media, misinformation and disinformation, and artificial intelligence. Nationally consistent teacher professional development resources should be in place for the new version of the Australian Curriculum.

4.142The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with grassroots community organisations for CALD people and other vulnerable groups to develop and deliver co-designed media and digital literacy training to support members of these groups build their skills to critically evaluate information sources and identify misinformation and disinformation.

4.146The Committee recommends that the AEC be appropriately funded to work with state and territory electoral commissions and grassroots community organisations, to develop and disseminate factual, appropriately translated electoral information in a range of formats, including audio, visual, infographic and simple text that can be easily shared across social media platforms.

4.148The Committee recommends that as part of a national media literacy strategy, the Australian Government support research initiatives to gain a better understanding of how all Australians receive and process civics and electoral information on social media. Research should be focused on:

the role of social media and the impact of recommender systems on democratic processes

how vulnerable groups, such as CALD communities, receive and consume information to better understand how to combat misinformation and disinformation in these communities.