South Australian teachers will be given the tools to support the next generation in their pursuit of democracy and understanding the role of civics in society.

In a nation-first, South Australia will have a specialised civics teacher in every public high school and B-12 school as part of an $18.4 million State Government investment to strengthen the future of democracy.

Delivered by the department, the training program begins with a 2-day in-person workshop to upskill teachers in the “what” and “how” of delivering civics and citizenship lessons to secondary students.

Two further in-person workshops will be held later in the year, giving teachers a chance to put their new skills into practice in the classroom.

Next month, the first group of Year 9 and 10 non-Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) teachers will start training on how to bring civics into their specialist subject areas including: science, maths, arts and English.

Civics is currently delivered through HASS as a compulsory aspect of learning between years 3 to 8. However, the quality of this delivery is mixed due to a lack of specialist teachers.

There has been a 15% decline in students studying the year 12 subject: ‘Politics, Power and People’ between 2021 and 2023 – highlighting the need for urgent reform.

The ‘Safeguarding Democracy through Public Education’ teacher training program is designed to strengthen the delivery of the civics and citizenship curriculum, empowering students to be proactive young citizens.

As part of boosting the education of young people about the important role civics and citizenship play in society:

• All years 7 and 8 public school students will study civics and citizenship for an hour per week.
• Every subject in years 9 and 10 will incorporate civics and citizenship as part of the introduction of a cross-curriculum priority.
• Public schools will be supported to introduce new opportunities for students to participate in school-based democratic opportunities, such as Student Representative Councils (SRC).
• All public school students will be able to participate in an annual Active Citizenship Convention, putting their education into practice.
• Resources will be shared with the non-government sector as well.

The inaugural 3-day statewide Active Citizenship Convention will be held in August this year as a way for year 10 students from all schooling sectors to engage in workshops about issues of importance to them; and to learn about the ways relevant laws and policies are made and influenced.

Read more about safeguarding democracy through civics and citizenship education.