Year 10 Strand Knowledge and understanding

Civics and Citizenship

Justice at home and overseas

The key features and values of Australia's system of government (e.g. democratic elections, the separation of powers) compared with one other system of government in the Asia region, such as China, Japan, India or Indonesia

Australia's roles and responsibilities at a global level (e.g. provision of foreign aid, peacekeeping, participation in international organisations, such as the United Nations)

The role of the High Court, including interpreting the Constitution

The international agreements Australia has ratified and examples of how they shape government policies and laws (e.g. the protection of World Heritage areas, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discriminati on, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples)

The threats to Australia's democracy and other democracies, such as the influence of vested interests, organised crime, corruption and lawlessness

The safeguards that protect Australia's democratic system and society, including shared values and the right to dissent within the bounds of the law

Economics and Business

Economic performance and living standards

Indicators of economic performance (e.g. economic growth rates, unemployment trends, inflation rates, human development index, quality of life index, sustainability indexes) and how Australia's economy is performing

The links between economic performance and living standards, the variations that exist within and between economies and the possible causes (e.g. foreign investment, employment rates and levels of debt)

The distribution of income and wealth in the economy and the ways in which governments can redistribute income (e.g. through taxation, social welfare payments)

The ways that governments manage the economy to improve economic performance and living standards (e.g. productivity policy, training and workforce development policy, migration), and to minimise the effects of externalities (e.g. regulation)

Factors that influence major consumer financial decisions (e.g. price, availability and cost of finance, marketing of products, age and gender of consumers, convenience, ethical and environmental considerations) and the short-term and long-term consequences of these decisions

The ways businesses organise themselves to improve productivity (e.g. provision of training, investment in applications of technology, use of just-in-time inventory systems)

Ways that businesses respond to improved economic conditions (e.g. increasing their research and development funding to create innovative products, adjusting marketing strategies to expand their market share)

Geography

Environmental change and management

The human-induced environmental changes that challenge sustainability (e.g. water and atmospheric pollution, degradation of land, inland and coastal aquatic environments)

The environmental worldviews of people and their implications for environmental management

Select one of the following types of environments as the context for a comparative study of an environmental change for Australia and one other country:

• land
• inland water
• coast
• marine
• urban

The causes and likely consequences of environmental change being investigated

The strategies to manage the environmental change being investigated

The application of environmental, economic and social criteria in evaluating management responses to the change being investigated

Geographies of human wellbeing

The different ways of measuring and mapping human wellbeing and development, and how these can be applied to measure differences between places

The reasons for spatial variations between countries in selected indicators of human wellbeing

The issues affecting the development of places and their impact on human wellbeing, drawing on a study from a developing country or region in Africa, South America or the Pacific Islands

The role of international and national government and non-government organisations' initiatives in improving human wellbeing in Australia and other countries

History

The modern world and Australia

Overview:

• The inter-war years between World War I and World War II, including the Treaty of Versailles, the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression

Depth study 1 : Investigating World War II (1939-1945)

The causes and course of World War II

The experiences of Australians during World War II, such as prisoners of war (POWs), the Battle of Britain, Kokoda and the fall of Singapore

The impact of World War II, with a particular emphasis on the Australian home front, including the changing roles of women and use of wartime government controls (e.g. conscription, manpower controls, rationing, censorship)

An examination of significant events of World War II, including the Holocaust and use of the atomic bomb

Depth study 2: Investigating rights and freedoms (1945-the present)

The origins and significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including Australia's involvement in the development of the declaration

The background to the struggle of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples for rights and freedoms before 1965, including the 1938 Day of Mourning and the Stolen Generations

The US civil rights movement and its influence on Australia

The significance of one of the following for the civil rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: 1962 right to vote federally; 1967 referendum; reconciliation; Mabo decision; Bringing Them Home Report (the Stolen Generations); the Apology

Methods used by civil rights activists to achieve change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and the role of one individual or group in the struggle