Topic

Lesson Plan

Resources

Do you know your rights?

Define:

• Rights
• Responsibilities
• Declaration of Human Rights

Discuss:

• Human rights
• How do we learn about our rights?
• How do other countries operate in terms of Human rights?
• How are Human rights protected?

Activity:

• Create a poster about Human rights.

Australian Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Brochures- know your rights. https://tinyurl.com/56v9nwd3

Dzehtsiarou, K. (2021). Compulsory vaccination: What does human rights law say? The Conversation. https://tinyurl.com/5n8uyycn

Gjelton, T. (2018). Boundlessly idealistic, Universal Declaration of Human Rights is still resisted. NPR. https://tinyurl.com/h9yj2p3j

Simons, M. (2021). We need to think about post-lockdown rights. The Monthly. https://tinyurl.com/mr4zm8py

United Nations. (n.d.). Protect human rights. https://www.un.org/en/our-work/protect-human-rights

What are Human rights and why are they important?

Define:

• Human rights (revise)
• “For many of us, the right to express our ideas and live how we choose is something we take for granted. But these rights and many others have come as the result of years of hard work and deliberation.”(Australian Human Rights Commission, 2018). 

Discuss:

• What human rights are
• Why they are important?
• The value of Human rights
• What are the consequences of compromising these rights?

Activity:

Look at

• The development of Human rights
• The United Nations – promoting and enforcing Human rights
• Protecting Human rights in Australia
• Contemporary issues in Human rights.

Watch:

1. A Pathway to Dignity: The Power of Human Rights Education is a 28-minute long documentary that demonstrates the impact of Human rights education.
2. Discuss as a class what the documentary is about. How does it relate to Human rights?

Australian Human Rights Commission. (2018). What are human rights? [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/WJsUfck01Js

Australian Human Rights Commission (2021). ‘From dreams, let’s make it a reality‘ [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/EwU64-keBaE

United Nations Human Rights. (2012). A path to dignity. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/ahE0tJbvl78

Wenz, K. (2020). What if a single human right could change the world? [Video]. TED Conferences. https://tinyurl.com/2p8u6fes

How Human rights are protected in Australia

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Define:

• What protects Human rights in Australia?
• Rule of law

Discuss:

• Australia is founded on the rule of law and has a strong tradition of respect for the rights and freedoms of every individual.

Activity:

1. Human rights are recognised and protected across Australia through a range of laws at the federal and state and territory levels, the Australian Constitution, and the common law.
2. Use Kahoot to create a quiz on Australian laws and Human rights.
3. Design an infographic for a teenage audience promoting one article from the Declaration of Human Rights.

Attorney-General’s Department. (n.d). Human rights protections. https://tinyurl.com/s8pezkve

Australian Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). How are human rights protected in Australian law? https://tinyurl.com/pxvar5bn

Australian Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Human rights at your fingertips. https://tinyurl.com/kdbkttbc

Human rights cases in Australia

Define:

• Racial Discrimination

Discuss:

• The Mabo Decision.

Activity:

Research Questions:

1. What is terra nullius?
2. What two perspectives of the Australian legal system did the Mabo case challenge?
3. Who was Vincent Lingiari and why was he significant to Aboriginal Australia?
4. What was the significance of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy?
5. How is this relevant today?
6. Use chapters of Eddie Koiki Mabo: History in the Making as a class to discuss how the Mabo case impacted Human rights in Australia? 

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. (2008). Case summary: Mabo v Queensland. https://aiatsis.gov.au/publication/35464

Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries. (n.d.). Right wrongs: ’67 Referendum – WA 50 years on. https://tinyurl.com/3dnhz3rv

James Cook University Library. (2022). Eddie Koiki Mabo: A timeline of history in the making. James Cook University Open eBooks. https://tinyurl.com/mt9k9r2z

Indigenous peoples and Human rights

Read:

• The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Declaration)

Discuss:

• What are some of the human rights problems faced by Indigenous peoples?
• Look at the Rights Tracker created by The Human Rights Measurement Initiative. How well is Australia respecting human rights?

Activity:

• In pairs, discuss ways Australia could improve human rights protections for Indigenous Australians.
• Create a PowerPoint and present your ideas to class.

Australian Human Rights Commission. (n.d).
Human rights and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. https://tinyurl.com/ycynay4f

Department of Economic and Social Affairs Indigenous Peoples. (2007). UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. United Nations. https://tinyurl.com/2s5tjk74

Summary and revision

Define:

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Discuss:

• Know and understand the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Race and sexism/gender
• Active citizenship
• Human rights and protecting Human rights

Activity:

• Create individual word clouds (images comprised of words about Mabo and Native Title). Students can use online word cloud generators for this activity.
• Watch the video You are Powerful by Amnesty Youth. Identify the Human Rights abuses occurring in the short film.
• Ask students to think up a new Human Right Article.
• Read this ABC news article. What is the article about? What does it say about Human rights?
• Human Rights Activity– worksheet. Complete individually going around the class asking questions.

Amnesty International. (n 2018). Learning about human rights in the secondary school. https://tinyurl.com/yc7e8m64

ABC news. (2022).  UN Human Right Council appoints independent expert to keep tabs on Russian rights violations. https://tinyurl.com/2cwh9pps

Practice exam question:

How do the Mabo v Queensland cases highlight racial discrimination, human rights abuse and the power of individuals to make change for the betterment of others?

Purpose:

This technique assesses the application of a range of cognition to provided questions, scenarios and/or problems. Responses are completed individually, under supervised conditions and in a set timeframe.

Dimensions to be assessed:

This assessment technique is to be used to determine student achievement in objectives from both of the following dimensions:

• knowing and understanding
• applying and examining.

Short response test:

Short response tests typically consist of a number of items that may include students responding to some or all of the following activities:

• recognising, describing and explaining concepts, ideas, issues and viewpoints
• analysing and comparing viewpoints about social contexts and issues – responding to seen or unseen stimulus materials
• interpreting and applying ideas and information
• drawing, labelling or interpreting equipment, graphs, tables or diagrams.

Respond to questions or stimuli about short legal and citizenship scenarios.

Example stimuli:

Mabo v Queensland (No.1)

Before the High Court had considered Eddie Mabo’s claim that he had native title over his traditional lands in the Torres Strait, the Queensland Government passed a law extinguishing all native title in Queensland. The High Court found that, on the assumption that Indigenous people did have title to their traditional land, the Queensland law was discriminatory because it took away property rights from Indigenous people and not from anybody else. The High Court later went on to consider whether, under Australian law, Indigenous people did have title to their traditional land – a matter decided in the famous case of Mabo v Queensland (No.2).

Exam Question:

Explain the significance of the Mabo v Queensland ( No. 1 and No. 2) cases to Australians with reference to human rights.

• Short response tests occur under supervised conditions as students produce work individually and in a set time to ensure authenticity.
• Questions, scenarios and problems are typically unseen. If seen, teachers must ensure the purpose of this technique is not compromised.
• Stimulus materials may also be used and may be seen or unseen.
• Unseen questions, statements or stimulus materials should not be copied from information or texts that students have previously been exposed to or have directly used in class.
• At least two of the core life skills areas must be covered within each examination.