00:00Welcome everybody to the Museum of Australian Democracy here at Old Parliament House.
00:12Can I get you to sit on the airy seat?
00:14It's a rite of passage for generations of young Australians.
00:17What are we noticing in this space?
00:19The school trip to Parliament House and the nation's capital to learn about democracy
00:24and national institutions first hand.
00:27A politician is probably a possible job for me. I would like to do that.
00:32So we might be running together in a few years time.
00:34Or against each other.
00:37There's a yearning to understand more about our history of why we have the democracy we do,
00:41how they can participate.
00:43But experts are worried traditional approaches to engaging kids in civics are no longer cutting through.
00:49Recent national tests showed just 28% of Year 10 students
00:53and only 43% of Year 6 learners are proficient in civics,
00:58the lowest levels since testing began two decades ago.
01:04It has had a more steep decline.
01:06That should be something that we all take really seriously.
01:08We need our children to, you know, really understand those democratic values on which this country is built.
01:15They can't or won't connect with the views of the younger generation.
01:21Misinformation needs...
01:22At Ambervale High on Sydney's south-western outskirts,
01:26they try to engage students in civics with real-world examples.
01:30The future voters like...
01:31But teacher Jo Novak says students feel ignored by mainstream politics.
01:36They do feel that then their voice is not heard
01:39and they do really question whether the political parties are taking their views on board.
01:45There are warnings that the impacts of Australia's poor performance in civics education
01:49extend well beyond the classroom.
01:53Australia's Governor-General Sam Mostyn
01:55is among those who believe it has implications for the future of democracy itself,
02:00especially when paired with the threat of misinformation online.
02:04I think misinformation and disinformation is the great scourge of our time.
02:09In the recent election, misinformation flooded social media channels
02:13where budding voters got their information.
02:17What's a leading question?
02:19Now Australia's National Curriculum Authority has announced
02:22it'll launch a specific media literacy module
02:25to help teens sort fact from fiction.
02:28If you only have one camera running...
02:29It'll be woven into different subjects
02:31and it's part of Australia's first national media literacy strategy,
02:36announced in December.
02:38We need them to be able to sort those things through
02:41and look at the evidence.
02:43And even though it is truthful, you're making it.
02:46At Brisbane State High School, they've been early adopters of media literacy.
02:51Today, teacher Amy Gust is guiding students through the process of making news.
02:56And he creates a documentary that says,
02:59the school's terrible, but you didn't sign up for that.
03:03Students learn to analyse media and decide whether it's misinformation or not,
03:08and how to create their own media content safely
03:11in a lesson much like those that'll be rolled out nationally.
03:15Building the skills within a student to look at something and go,
03:17can I trust that?
03:19Or, hmm, what question should I ask first?
03:23Or, who made that?
03:25And what vested interest do they have in it?
03:29There's homework for parents too.
03:31The National Curriculum Authority says it's also up to them
03:34to talk with their children about civics.
03:37And these budding voters say the key to government engaging them
03:41is to take them more seriously.
03:43We're really invested in how the government's going to handle our future
03:47because it's going to impact us the most.
03:49And they need to understand that we're not just here
03:51for all of the silly little videos and edits.
03:53We want to understand what's happening in our country.
03:56Room for improvement at home, at school and at election time.
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