Roles, responsibilities and participation

The key values that underpin Australia's democracy, including freedom, equality, fairness and justice (ACHASSK115)

The roles and responsibilities of electors (e.g. enrolling to vote, being informed) and representatives (e.g. representing their electorate's interests, participating in the parliamentary process) in Australia's democracy (ACHASSK116)

The key features of the electoral process in Australia, such as compulsory voting, secret ballot, preferential voting (ACHASSK116)

How regulations and laws affect the lives of citizens (e.g. the different types of laws, how laws protect human rights) (ACHASSK117)

The roles and responsibilities of key personnel in law enforcement (e.g. customs officials, police) and in the legal system (e.g. lawyers, judges) (ACHASSK117)

Why people work in groups to achieve their aims and functions, and exercise influence, such as volunteers who work in community groups (e.g. rural fire services, emergency services, youth groups) (ACHASSK118)

Wants, resources and choices

The difference between needs and wants, and how they may differ between individuals (ACHASSK119)

Resources can be natural (e.g. oil), human (e.g. workers), or capital (e.g. machinery), and how these are used to make goods and services to satisfy the needs and wants of present and future generations (ACHASSK120)

Due to scarcity, choices need to be made about how limited resources are used (e.g. using the land to grow crops or to graze cattle) (ACHASSK119)

The factors that influence purchase decisions (e.g. age, gender, advertising, price) and how these decisions affect resource use (ACHASSK121)

Strategies for making informed consumer and financial decisions (e.g. budgeting, comparing prices, saving for the future) (ACHASSK121)

Factors that shape the environmental characteristics of places

The main characteristics (e.g. climate, natural vegetation, landforms, native animals) of the continents of South America and North America, and the location of their major countries in relation to Australia (ACHASSK111)

The way people alter the environmental characteristics of Australian places (e.g. vegetation clearance, fencing, urban development, drainage, irrigation, farming, forest plantations, mining) (ACHASSK112)

Features of environments (e.g. climate, landforms, vegetation) influence human activities and the built features of places (ACHASSK113)

The impact of bushfires or floods on environments and communities, and how people can respond (ACHASSK114)

The Australian colonies

The economic, political and social reasons for establishing British colonies in Australia after 1800 (e.g. the establishment of penal colonies) (ACHASSK106)

The patterns of colonial development and settlement (e.g. geographical features, climate, water resources, transport, discovery of gold) and how this impacted upon the environment (e.g. introduced species) and the daily lives of the different inhabitants (e.g. convicts, free settlers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples) (ACHASSK107)

The economic, social and political impact of one significant development or event on a colony and the potential outcomes created by 'what if…?' scenarios (e.g. frontier conflict; the gold rushes; the Eureka Stockade; the Pinjarra Massacre; the advent of rail; the expansion of farming; drought) (ACHASSK107)

The contribution or significance of one individual or group in shaping the Swan River Colony, including their motivations and actions (e.g. groups such as explorers, farmers, pastoralists, convicts or individuals such as James Stirling, John Septimus Roe, Thomas Peel) (ACHASSK110)