Voices of Australia - RightsED
Voices of Australia
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This education resource is designed to complement the publication Voices of Australia: 30 years since the Racial Discrimination Act.
The stories in the Voices of Australia publication remind us that Australia is a society of many diverse communities. While it is an ancient land, and home to the world’s oldest continuing culture, it is also a young and vibrant multicultural society with nearly a quarter of Australians born overseas, and another quarter having at least one parent who was born in another country.
The stories also remind us that within our diversity there are values that many of us share. One of these values is that racism and discrimination have no place in our communities. It is essential for all Australians to understand that equality before the law is not something that we should take for granted. It is essential that shared values be discussed at all levels in our communities in order to minimise the potential for conflict.
This is especially important in our classrooms.
The teaching and learning activities incorporated in the resource allow for students to share ideas about each other, to explore their own family history and experiences of diversity, discrimination, race relations, friendships and signs of respect. The resource is intended to help students understand the laws that frame the society we live in, and to appreciate how these laws have been, and continue to be developed.
Activities / resources downloads
Chapter and exercise
1. Discussion game
2. Role play and discussion
3. Map and timeline work
4. Listening activity
- Voices of Australia audio files
- Activity sheet: Listening to Voices of Australia
- Transcript – Voices of Australia audio transcripts
5. Legal investigation
- Activity sheet: The laws and me
- Activity sheet: Information map
- Resource sheet: Racial discrimination and the law: an overview
- Resource sheet: Protection of human rights in Australia
- Activity sheet: Investigating racial discrimination
- Case study 1: racial discrimination and vilification
- Case study 2: racial discrimination and employment
6. Research project
7. Creative expression
- Activity sheet: Poetry Don Dale Boys Hip Hop
- Activity sheet: Reflecting on literature
- Activity sheet: Get creative
