The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) have released their 2024 Civics and Citizenship Report, a document which aims to capture information about Australian students’ current attitudes and experiences of civics education, a label applied to social science subjects like political studies.
The report found that excursion opportunities to places like Parliament House, and opportunities like student elections and school decision making, help to improve student outcomes.
However, the report found that less than half of students nationally got access to experiences like excursions and were able to help make decisions about how their schools were run. This was a 60% drop from 2019.
These findings reflect what students have been sharing with VicSRC for years, highlighting that extra-curricular activities like camps and excursions are a very important part of what makes a great education experience, but that those opportunities are becoming less common.
The findings also reflect the importance of having their student voices heard when decisions are made about how their school is run, as shown in VicSRC’s 2024 Congress Report.
Victorian student Grace (she/her), who was an MC at 2024 Congress, said that “excursions are such a powerful way to engage with subjects ... as a student I know firsthand how going into a different environment, outside of school is so beneficial for information retention as well as enjoyment and engagement with a subject”.
The ACARA Civics and Citizenships Report found that students nationally are performing at their lowest level since the assessment began 20 years ago. However, at a state level, there was little difference for Victorian students in comparison to 2019.
Excursions are such a powerful way to engage with subjects ... as a student I know firsthand how going into a different environment, outside of school is so beneficial for information retention as well as enjoyment and engagement with a subject”.
Students in Year 6 reported higher levels of participation in school-based civics and citizenships activities than Year 10 students. This follows a trend of declining participation in all ‘civics’-based activities since 2019 for secondary school students. This includes excursions such as visiting Parliament or Government House. Year 10s saw the largest decline in these excursions.
Grace said “[y]ear 10 is such a pivotal year as it is just before senior school starts. Not having the opportunity to take what’s applied in civics-based subjects into the real world can mean that students don’t connect with the subject’s content and won’t continue it in year 11 and 12”.
While lockdown can explain some of the decline, both VicSRC’s 2023 and 2024 Congress Reports show that staff shortages and rising costs of excursions are significant factors.
These barriers meant that some schools could no longer offer these activities, and if they were offered, cost would be a significant barrier in attending. These costs are often higher for regional and remote students.
Grace reminds us that the reliance on casual relief teaching puts a toll on a school’s budget. “Paying substitute teachers can be expensive for schools. This means that having excursions can be unfeasible".
Students also shared in 2024 that rising costs were a key barrier to their engagement in experiences like excursions. Students explained that their families were prioritising essentials like uniforms and equipment, limiting their ability to engage in other activities. This is a concerning trend, especially as VicSRC heard from students about this issue in 2023 as well.
ACARA’s report found that less than half of students in Australia (47%) could help make decisions about how their school was run.
“I know that this lack of decision-making for students can be really frustrating; and any rare opportunity to do so often has to go through a lengthy process, only to be denied or pushed back further,” said Greta (she/her), a current year 10 student and 2025 VicSRC Executive Committee member.
“I envision a future where schools seek advice from students before implementing any programs/policies that affect how, where and what they learn.”
VicSRC’s CEO Julia Baron (she/her) shared that the recent Civics and Citizenship ACARA report “highlights what students have shared with VicSRC for multiple years.”
"We are confident in students’ abilities to help shape the solutions to the challenges they face at school. It is clear that in order to see these outcomes rise, students' voices must be listened to, participation needs to be taken seriously, and we need to prioritise improving access to experiences so students have opportunities to put their learning into practice in engaging and meaningful ways.”