Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
Sign In Skip to Content

Advice for teachers -
Australian and Global Politics

Unit 1 - Area of Study 2: Political actors and power

Outcome 2

Explain and analyse the roles and functions of political parties, interest groups and the media and their influence on participation in Australian politics.

Examples of learning activities

  • Discuss the aims of political parties. Distinguish between an ideology and a political party. Identify and note the main functions of political parties in a democracy.
  • Example icon for advice for teachers
    Examine two political parties in detail. Refer to the Australian Electoral Commission and Parliament of Australia websites. Complete a written report on the political party of your choice.
  • Debate as a class the contention that major political parties such as the ALP or Liberal Party in Australia are becoming increasingly irrelevant due to the rise of parties such as One Nation.
  • View recent ABC documentaries from Four Corners or Australian Story on the rise to power of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party or the Nick Xenophon Team or the Jacqui Lambie Network. Identify the factors that have influenced the success of these micro parties.
  • Discuss the role and function of interest groups. Examine such groups as the Australian Medical Association, Get Up, the CFMEU or others. Identify how they are different to political parties.
  • Research the role of two interest groups, one of which should have international links to Australia such as Greenpeace or Amnesty International. Prepare an annotated visual display demonstrating the aims, ideas, successes and failures of the selected interest groups.
  • Invite a representative of a local interest group to address the class.
  • Examine the roles and functions of media in a liberal democracy such as Australia. Debate and decide on definitions of media.
  • Survey and compare various media sources, traditional, social and new media coverage of Australian politics. Create a comparative chart based on a week of media consumption of each of these types of sources.
  • Discuss ways in which citizens can use the media to participate in politics. Design a social media experiment for students in the school to engage with, to test your ideas.
  • Invite a journalist or social media blogger to address the class.
  • Examine a case study involving a recent political issue. Analyse the role of the traditional, new and social media in this case study. Write an essay responding to the topic; What role does the media play in reporting on and interpreting current Australian politics?
Example icon for advice for teachers 

Detailed example

Political party report

Conduct a research report on two Australian Political Parties. The report should address the following for each party:

  • Explain the steps that must be followed to form a political party in Australia.
  • Describe when, where and by whom the political party was founded.
  • Describe the overall political aims and ideas of the political party and who they seek to represent.
  • Prepare a profile of one of the leader’s the political party has had: discuss their achievements and failings in this role.
  • Look at the results of the 2016 election. How successful was the political party in gaining representation? What were their campaign issues? What was their campaign slogan or advertising pitch?
  • Research the membership of the political party. How do you become a member? How many members are there? What are the expectations of the political party of its members? How does the political party help people participate in our democracy?
  • Explain the political party’s influence and positive and negative contribution to Australian democracy.

Students use a Venn-diagram to compare both parties.