Parliamentary Education Office - Australia

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Parliamentary Education Office - Australia

This page is politically neutral, independent of any political parties/politicians and the work of the Government of Australia.

🏫 Support for Aussie primary & secondary teachers
📚 Civics resources + PL
💡 Ideas & insights
⚖️ Politically neutral
📅 Monitored during business hours
🔗 Social media guidelines: peo.gov.au/social The Parliamentary Education Office (PEO) has created this page to keep you informed about the educational resources, programs and teacher professional learning opportunities offered by the PEO. Th

is page will be monitored during business hours. Comments that are abusive or use inappropriate language will be deleted. Any comments that advertise commercial products or activities will be deleted. Do not post comments which are defamatory, discriminatory, incite violence, infringe copyright or are otherwise illegal, all such comments will be deleted. The PEO reserves the right to block contributors accounts for any of the above reasons.

14/06/2026

Today marks the anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215.

❓Check out this great question and answer about the importance of the Magna Carta in the images below!

🔍 Explore more from the Your Questions on Notice series at: https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/your-questions-on-notice/

📣 Know a teacher who’d love this? Please share!

11/06/2026

Election is a key term in the Australian Curriculum v9.0 Civics and Citizenship, introduced in Year 5 and revisited in the secondary years.

An easy place to begin is the PEO glossary, which provides a clear, student‑friendly definition of this important civics term. Teachers can then deepen learning by selecting effective vocabulary interrogation strategies that help students understand how the word works.

For election, use a word family strategy. Explore related words such as elect, elected and electorate, and ask students how these connected words help clarify what happens during an election and who is involved. Making these links helps students see election as an action (choosing) rather than just an event.

For students ready to explore further, check out the Federal election fact sheet.

🔗 Federal election fact sheet: https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/having-your-say/elections-and-voting/federal-elections

🔗 PEO glossary: https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/glossary

09/06/2026

✈️ Outreach in Western Australia begins today as our team travels to visit schools in parts of the state.

✨ We’re looking forward to engaging students through interactive role plays, exploring how Parliament works, and inspiring meaningful conversations about democracy.

💻 And if your school missed out on an in-person visit, don’t forget that our free digital programs can be booked at any time:

🔗 https://peo.gov.au/book-a-program/digital-programs

07/06/2026

🪝Hooking students into civics with fun number facts about Parliament House.

✨10,000 workers helped construct Australia’s Parliament House.

That number highlights that Parliament House is not just a symbol of democracy, but one of the largest and most complex building projects in Australia’s history.

☑️ Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser officially broke the ground on Capital Hill on 18 September 1980, and later poured the first concrete in November 1981, marking the transition from planning to full construction.
☑️ Parliament House was opened on 9 May 1988 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, marking the beginning of a new chapter for Australia’s parliamentary life in Canberra.
☑️At the time, it was the largest building project undertaken in Australia since the Snowy Mountains Hydro electric Scheme of the 1960s.

📍 Why start civics learning with Parliament House? Beginning with a real, physical place helps students grasp ideas that can otherwise feel abstract. The building sparks curiosity, invites questions, and shows that civics is designed, purposeful, and connected to people – making it a powerful gateway to deeper learning.

🔗 Explore Parliament House in depth at: https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/parliament-house/australias-parliament-house

✨ Spark interest first, build knowledge second.

04/06/2026

Federal is a commonly used civics term in the Australian Curriculum V9.0 Civics and Citizenship secondary curriculum.

An easy place to begin is the PEO glossary, which provides a clear, student friendly explanation of how the word federal is used in the Australian context. Teachers can then deepen learning by selecting vocabulary interrogation strategies that focus on how the word works in real situations.

For federal, use a contextualisation strategy with familiar Australian examples. Ask students to compare the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and state police, and explain how the word federal helps them understand who each organisation works for and where their powers apply. This reinforces that federal describes what operates at the national level, rather than at the state or territory level.

For students ready to explore further, check out the Three levels of government interactive poster.

🔗 Three levels of government interactive poster: https://peo.gov.au/teach-our-parliament/education-resources/interactive-posters/three-levels-of-government

🔗 PEO Federal glossary: https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/glossary

03/06/2026

🏅Here are the Top 3 most visited PEO pages last month - and they’re worth a look if you haven’t checked them out lately:

1️⃣ The Federation of Australia (in-depth paper)
2️⃣ House of Representatives current numbers image
3️⃣ Federal, state, local – interactive game

✨Whether you were planning a lesson, supporting student research, or chasing a quick refresher, these pages were the big winners for May.

🖱️Why not see what all the clicking was about?

🔗Explore them on the PEO website: www.peo.gov.au or find the direct links in the comments.

02/06/2026

👀Year 3 & 4 Teachers, looking for a way to bring civics to life in your classroom?

📣 “Introducing Parliament” is the PEO’s digital program created especially for younger learners.

🔍Students will explore:
• the similarities, differences and importance of rules and laws
• the role and responsibilities of representatives
• what it means to be an active citizen.

✨Free. Live. Easy to join.

🔗Book today to secure your session: https://peo.gov.au/book-a-program/digital-programs

01/06/2026

🪝Hooking students into civics with fun number facts about Parliament House.

✨4,500 rooms are contained within Australia’s Parliament House.

That number alone helps students grasp the scale of modern parliamentary democracy – and how much work happens beyond the chamber they usually see.

☑️ On a sitting day, the building accommodates around 5,000 people, including parliamentarians, staff, journalists, advisers, contractors, and visitors.
☑️ Parliament House is more than a debating space – it houses committee rooms, offices, media areas, a library, kitchens, childcare facilities, and support services that keep democracy functioning every day.
☑️ The Parliamentary Education Office is part of this count too – including our office, education spaces, and digital studios, where thousands of students each year learn how Australia’s democracy works.
☑️ Old Parliament House, by contrast, had just 184 rooms and was only ever intended as a temporary home for the Australian Parliament.
☑️The dramatic increase in size reflects how Australia’s democracy has grown – not just debating laws, but consulting communities, running committees, educating students, and engaging the public.

📍 Why start civics learning with Parliament House? Beginning with a real, physical place helps students grasp ideas that can otherwise feel abstract. The building sparks curiosity, invites questions, and shows that civics is designed, purposeful, and connected to people – making it a powerful gateway to deeper learning.

🔗 Explore Parliament House in depth at: https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/parliament-house/australias-parliament-house

✨ Spark interest first, build knowledge second.

28/05/2026

Law is a key concept in the Australian Curriculum V9.0 Civics and Citizenship, appearing across primary and secondary year levels.

An easy place to begin is the PEO glossary, which provides a clear, student friendly definition of this foundational civics term. Teachers can then deepen learning by selecting effective vocabulary interrogation strategies.

For law, use the examples/non examples strategy. Ask students to sort a range of rules and laws, explaining the features that help them tell the difference. This supports students to recognise what makes a rule a law, rather than assuming all rules are the same.

This kind of word interrogation helps address a common misconception, where students may confuse laws with school rules, policies or expectations, and supports more accurate understanding of how laws function in society.

For further learning, the Rules and laws classroom activity provides a practical, curriculum aligned way to apply these distinctions.

🔗 Rules and laws classroom activity: https://peo.gov.au/teach-our-parliament/classroom-activities/how-parliament-works/rules-and-laws

🔗 PEO glossary: https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/glossary

27/05/2026

👀Year 9-12 Teachers, looking for a way to engage your students with one of Australia’s most important documents?

📣 “Power and the people: Australia’s Constitution” is the PEO’s digital program that unpacks how law-making powers in Australia are organised, shared and changed.

🔍Students will examine:
• division of powers: local, state and federal
• separation of powers: Parliament, Executive, and Judiciary
• case studies on the Communism Referendum (1951) and the National Fi****ms Agreement (1996).

✨Free. Live. Easy to join.

🔗Book today to secure your session: https://peo.gov.au/book-a-program/digital-programs

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Parliament House
Canberra, ACT
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Website

http://www.peo.gov.au/, https://linktr.ee/peo_aus

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