12 TUESDAY, August 5, 2014

The Standard

www.standard.net.au

NEWSPAPERS IN EDUCATION

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Federal
Parliament

State
Government

NAL
4HE&EDERAL0ARLIAMENTISLOCATEDINOURNATIOAKES
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ALLED
LAWSFORALL!USTRALIANSnTHESELAWSAREC
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%ACH3TATEOR4ERRITORYHASITSOWN0ARLIAMENTAND
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s3ENATE

There are three levels of

government in Australia:
s,OCAL
s3TATE
s&EDERAL
/URCURRENTSYSTEMOFGOVERNMENT
WASESTABLISHEDINWHEN
THESTATESTHENSEPARATECOLONIES
JOINEDTOGETHERTOFORMTHE
!USTRALIAN&EDERATION4HEPOWERS
ANDROLEOFEACHLEVELOF
GOVERNMENTWEREESTABLISHEDBY
the Constitution (a set of rules for
GOVERNING!USTRALIA ANDHAVE
BEENDEVELOPEDOVERTHEYEARS
While there are some areas where
RESPONSIBILITIESOVERLAPGENERALLY
LOCALSTATEANDFEDERAL
governments make rules about
DIFFERENTTHINGS
4HESERULESLAWS COVERMOST
ASPECTSOFOURDAILYLIVESFROM
when our rubbish bins are
COLLECTEDWHATYOUARETAUGHT
ATSCHOOLWHERETRAFlCLIGHTS
ARELOCATEDTOHOWMUCHYOU
PAYFORAPOSTAGESTAMPnALLOF
THESEDECISIONSHAVEBEENMADE
BYGOVERNMENTS!LLTHREELEVELS
OFGOVERNMENTPROVIDEDIFFERENT
SERVICESINTHECOMMUNITYAND
THEYRAISETHEMONEYTOPAYFOR
THESESERVICESTHROUGHTAXESAND
CHARGES!USTRALIANSVOTEFOR
REPRESENTATIVESTOLOCALSTATEAND
FEDERALGOVERNMENTSINSEPARATE
ELECTIONS%VERYONEIN!USTRALIAHAS
SOMEONETOREPRESENTTHEMATEACH
LEVELOFGOVERNMENT4HETHREE
levels of government work together
SOTHATEVERY!USTRALIANSHARESTHE
SERVICESTHEYEACHPROVIDE
!USTRALIASSYSTEMOFGOVERNMENT
ISBASEDONTHE"RITISH7ESTMINSTER
SYSTEMWHICHISONEOFTHEOLDEST
ANDMOSTSTABLEDEMOCRACIESIN
THEWORLD!USTRALIASSYSTEMOF
government is part of what makes
OURCOUNTRYSUCHAFANTASTICPLACE

,OCAL'OVERNMENTISOFTENREFERREDTOAS
THE,OCAL
#OUNCILOR3HIRE#OUNCILSMAKEDECISION
SONLOCAL
TOWNMATTERS4HEYALSOMAKELAWSBY LA
WS THAT
COVERAWIDERANGEOFEVERYDAYSERVICES
nLIKE
RUBBISHCOLLECTIONSEWERAGEANDFOOTPATHS

4HELEADEROFA4ERRITORY'OVERNMENTISCALLEDTHE
#HIEF-INISTER

s(OUSEOF2EPRESENTATIVES

How we are
governed

Local
Government

OF
4HE(OUSEOF2EPRESENTATIVESISMADEUP
RSFROM
ELECTEDREPRESENTATIVESKNOWNASMEMBE %ACH
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VOT
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4HE3ENATEISMADEUPOFSENATORSn
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4HEGOVERNMENTISFORMEDBYTHEPOLITICAL
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CTED
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YOFM
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IVES
!USTRALIAN'OVERNMENT4HE#ONSTITUTIONG ATE
ANST
ERSTH
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NTGR
IAME
THE&EDERAL0ARL
GOVERNMENTSORLOCALCOUNCILS

.OTEVERY3TATEOR4ERRITORY'OVERNMENTOPERATES
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HOUSE4HENUMBEROFMEMBERSOFPARLIAMENTALSO
VARIESSIGNIlCANTLYFROM3TATETO3TATE

,OCAL#OUNCILSRAISETHEMONEYTOPROVIDE
THES
SERVICESBYCOLLECTINGTAXESRATES FROMALLLO E
HOMEOWNERS,OCAL#OUNCILSALSORECEIVE CAL
MONEY
FROM&EDERALAND3TATE'OVERNMENTGRANTS
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THEMOPERATE

3TATESRAISETHEIROWNMONEYTHROUGHTAXESAND
ALSORECEIVEMONEYDIRECTLYFROMTHE&EDERAL
'OVERNMENT4HE3TATE0REMIERSAND4ERRITORY
#HIEF-INISTERSMEETREGULARLYIN#ANBERRAWITH
THE0RIME-INISTERAND4REASURERTODISCUSSTHE
AMOUNTOFMONEYTHEYWILLRECEIVETOHELPPAYFOR
THEIRSERVICES4HEMEETINGISCALLEDTHE#OUNCILOF
!USTRALIAN'OVERNMENTS#/!' 

4HEREAREHUNDREDSOFLOCAL'OVERNMENTS
THROUGHOUT!USTRALIA#OUNCILLORSAREELEC
TED
TOREPRESENTLOCALRESIDENTSANDTHE-AYOR
IS
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,OCAL'OVERNMENTSPLANHOWOURLOCALAREA
WILLDEVELOP4HEYCONTROLBUILDINGPERMIS
SIONS
ANDADMINISTERLOCALPARKSSPORTINGlELDSAND

COMMUNITYCENTRES

The Australian Coat of Arms

4HE!USTRALIAN#OATOF!RMSCONSISTSOFASHIELDWITHTHEBADGESOF
EACHOFTHESIX!USTRALIAN3TATES
/NTHELEFTSIDEOFTHESHIELDSTANDSAREDKANGAROOANDONTHERIGHTIS
ANEMU"ENEATHTHESHIELDISASCROLLWITHTHEWORD@!USTRALIAWRITTEN
INIT7ATTLESPRAYSFORMABACKGROUND
4HE#OATOF!RMSISONEOFTHESYMBOLSOF&EDERATION4HE
#OMMONWEALTHUSESITTOIDENTIFYITSAUTHORITYANDPROPERTY

Australias
Constitution
A Constitution is a set of rules for
GOVERNINGACOUNTRY!USTRALIAS
#ONSTITUTIONWASCREATEDAT
&EDERATIONIN)TWASWRITTENBY
REPRESENTATIVESOFEACHOFTHESTATES
THENCOLONIES ATSEVERALMMEETINGS
PRIORTO

(OWEVERITCANALSOBEFOUNDINMANYOTHERPLACESFOREXAMPLE

ONCRICKETERSCAPSANDON!USTRALIANPASSPORTS

nsible for:

Federal Government is respo

s-EDICARE

s)MMIGRATIONANDCUSTOMS
s%MPLOYMENTANDWORKPLACERELATIONS
s!USTRALIA0OST
s&AMILYSUPPORTANDPENSIONS
s#ENTRELINK
s&UNDINGTOTHESTATESANDTERRITORIES

s4AXATION INCOMETAX'34

COMPANYTAXES
s#ONTROLOFTELEVISION
RADIO

State Government is
responsible for:
s3CHOOLS
s2AILWAYS
s#ARREGISTRATION
s&IREBRIGADE
s7ILDLIFEPROTECTION
s(OSPITALS

s-OSTROADS
s0OLICE
s!MBULANCE
s0RISONS
s0LANNING

s)MPORTSANDEXPORTS
s!IRSAFETY
s0ASSPORTS

Classroom discussion
$ISCUSSTHEANSWERSTOTHEFOLLOWINGQUE
STIONSINCLASS
7HATWOULDHAPPENIF
sTHEREWASNORUBBISHCOLLECTION
sTHEREWERENOHEALTHREGULATIONSFORRESTAUR
ANTS
sROADSWERENOTMAINTAINED
s!USTRALIADIDNTHAVEADEFENCEFORCE
sTHEREWERENODOGORCATREGULATIONS
sTHEREWERENOPUBLICLIBRARIES
sEACH3TATEGOVERNMENTPRODUCEDITSOWN
sTHEREWERENOLAWSAGAINSTCRIMINALBE COINS
HAVIOUR
sTHEREWERENOPLANSORPROTECTIONFORTH
EENVIRONMENT

sTHEREWERENOBUILDINGREGULATIONS

Issues collage

Local Government is
responsible for:
s3TREETSIGNS
s4RAFlCCONTROL
s3PORTSGROUNDS
s!NIMALCONTROL
s2UBBISHCOLLECTIONS s$RAINSANDFOOTPATHS
s"UILDINGPERMITS
s3WIMMINGPOOLS
s#OLLECTINGRATES

s$EFENCE
s"ROADBAND
4HE#ONSTITUTIONHASSPECIALSTATUSnIT
CANNOTBECHANGEDINTHESAMEWAY
ASOTHERLAWS)TCANONLYBECHANGED
BYADIRECTVOTEOFALL!USTRALIANS4HIS
ISCALLEDAREFERENDUM4HE&EDERAL
0ARLIAMENTCANCHANGEORDINARYLAWS
BYPASSINGNEWONESBUTITCANONLY
SUGGESTCHANGESTOTHE
#ONSTITUTION3INCETHE&EDERAL
0ARLIAMENTHASMADEDIFFERENT
PROPOSALSTOCHANGETHE#ONSTITUTION
nBUTONLYEIGHTHAVEBEENPASSEDBY
REFERENDUM
!SPECIAL#ONSTITUTIONAL#ONVENTION
WASHELDIN&EBRUARYTOCONSIDER
WHETHERORNOT!USTRALIASHOULD
BECOMEAREPUBLICANDHAVEANELECTED
HEADOFSTATERATHERTHANTHEQUEEN
4HEREFERENDUMHELDIN.OVEMBER
REJECTEDTHEREPUBLICMODEL

#OLLECTEIGHTnARTICLESINRECENTDAILYANDLOCALNEWSPAPERSDEALINGWITHVARIOUSGOVERNMENT RELATEDSERVICES
EGHOSPITALSEDUCATIONENVIRONMENTALISSUESMOTORVEHICLEROADSETC 
#ATEGORISEEACHACCORDINGTOWHICHLEVELOFGOVERNMENTHASPRIMERESPONSIBILITYFORTHERELATED
0ROVIDEABRIEFDESCRIPTIONOFTHEISSUESTHATARETHESUBJECTOFEACHOFTHEARTICLES!RETHEREANYCRITICISMSOFTHE
WAYTHEPARTICULARLEVELSOFGOVERNMENTHAVEDEALTWITHTHEISSUE$OYOUAGREEDISAGREE)FSOWHY
5SEYOURARTICLESANDYOURCOMMENTSTOCREATEACOLLAGEORPOSTERILLUSTRATINGTHEROLEANDRESPONSIBILITYOFEACHOF
THELEVELSOFGOVERNMENT
7RITEFORANAUDIENCE3ELECTONEOFTHEISSUESWHICHMOSTCONCERNSYOUANDWRITEALETTERTOALOCALMEMBEROF
PARLIAMENTORCOUNCILLORSETTINGOUTYOURVIEWSABOUTTHECHANGESTHATYOUWISHTOSEEHAPPEN

Liz Zelencich
Program Co-ordinator

NEWSPAPERS IN EDUCATION
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